A few years ago, the Utah Foundation issued a report showing Utah property taxes, as a percentage of personal income, had actually dropped since the 1960s, because of this law.
Governments have long clamored to be able to capture more taxes based on inflation. The concern they often ignore is that this hidden increase would make it harder for low-income and retired fixed-income people to survive.
The governor suggests expanding the so-called “circuit breaker” safety net that would keep such people from losing their homes to a tax sale, but the real harm would be to families whose incomes are just marginally above that safety net.
But while state lawmakers, not the governor, write the final budget during their annual legislative session, we hope lawmakers take the governor’s call for a fairer tax structure seriously.
