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SALT LAKE CITY — Thanks to the sweeping transportation bill passed by the Utah Legislature this year, counties have the power to resurrect the Proposition 1 tax sales tax hike.
But Salt Lake County leaders might hand off that power to cities.
The Salt Lake County Council is scheduled to consider and perhaps vote on a new ordinance Tuesday that would automatically enact the $58 million tax hike if city councils representing a supermajority of the county pass resolutions in support of the hike.
Council Chairwoman Aimee Winder Newton said Monday she's supporting the ordinance as a way to empower cities — and she expects the ordinance to pass.
"It sounds like most of the council really likes this approach, so I anticipate that it will pass," Newton said. "But we'll see. You never know."
The ordinance would enact the 0.25 sales tax increase — which would raise taxes by roughly 1 penny for every $4 spent — if cities, towns and metro townships representing 67 percent of Salt Lake County's population adopt resolutions supporting the tax hike.
"The thing I like about this is it puts it in the hands of cities," Newton said. "To me, it makes the most sense to let our city (leaders) make those decisions and trust they're in touch with their communities and know what their transportation needs are."
Despite the push to fund local road and transit projects, Salt Lake County voters in 2015 shot down the Proposition 1 sales tax hike, 51 percent to 49 percent, causing Utah's most populous county to lag behind in transportation funding.
Proposition 1's downfall was largely attributed to distrust with the Utah Transit Authority and its scandal-tainted past — but state lawmakers hoped to provide a clean slate for the agency through its transportation bill, SB136, by restructuring the agency's management and eventually changing its name to the Transit District of Utah.
If not enough city or town councils adopt resolutions by June 22, 2018, the tax would not be imposed under the Salt Lake County ordinance.
But legally, the County Council would still have the ability to implement the tax. Under SB136, the council could still vote on a tax increase and collect 100 percent of its revenue up until June 30, 2019 — though Newton said county leaders likely wouldn't be willing to do that if enough city leaders oppose the tax hike.
"If this passes tomorrow, I think we're sending a pretty clear message that we're letting our cities dictate whether they need these funds," Newton said. "I don't see any reason why the county would turn around and implement it."
Newton noted that if enough cities support the tax hike, the county would use the revenue collected until June 2019 to help pay down regional transportation project debt, which Newton said would largely benefit municipalities rather than unincorporated roads.
Once the June 2019 deadline passes, the revenue would be split as if the tax hike had been passed under Proposition 1 with 40 percent to UTA, 40 percent to cities, and 20 percent to counties. If counties don't act, the sales tax option has an expiration date of June 2022.
If counties do not impose the tax by June 2020, however, individual cities can choose to act on their own. Cities with transit service would have the option to enact it through a vote of their councils, with 50 percent of its revenue to go directly to cities and 50 percent to UTA.
Additionally, SB136 allows a new 0.2 percent sales tax option that would be available to counties for transit service beginning in July 2019. But counties would not be able to impose it if they haven't already imposed other sales tax hikes, including Proposition 1.
The Salt Lake County Council is scheduled to discuss the proposed ordinance during its 1:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Salt Lake County Government Center, 2001 S. State.
