Utah, Salt Lake counties weighing whether to breathe new life into failed transportation tax hike
SALT LAKE CITY — More than two years ago, voters in Utah's two most populous counties rejected Proposition 1, the sales tax hike that would have brought in tens of millions for transportation projects. But now, county leaders can bring it back from the dead.
That's thanks to one of the many provisions included in the sweeping transportation bill passed by the Utah Legislature this year, which includes restructuring and renaming the Utah Transit Authority, among other changes.
FILE - A TRAX train carries passengers on Main Street in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018. Ravell Call, Deseret News
The new law gives leaders in both Utah County and Salt Lake County the power to revive Proposition 1 — either by implementing the tax increase, which would raise taxes by roughly one penny for every $4 spent — through a vote from their legislative bodies, or by placing the proposed tax increase on another ballot.
Now faced with the decision to take one of those options — or do nothing — while also dealing with underfunded needs for roads and transit, leaders in both counties aren't sure what they'll do, but they plan to have the discussion over the next few weeks before the bill takes effect in May.
Because that's when the clock starts ticking.
Included in the bill is an incentive for counties to act sooner rather than later, because if the tax is implemented before June 30, 2019, counties would be able to capture 100 percent of the revenue up until that date. Afterward, the funds will be split as if the change had been passed under Proposition 1: 40 percent to UTA, 40 percent to cities and 20 percent to counties. The sales tax option has an expiration date of June 2022.
On top of that, counties wouldn't be able to implement a new 0.2 percent sales tax increase option provided in the 2018 transportation bill, which would raise at least $30 million in Salt Lake County for transit projects, until they're collecting all four of the quarter-cent increases for transportation already allowed. That option has an expiration date, too: June 2023...
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