- A proposed tax hike in Roy was among 35 rejected by state officials per new guidelines governing the process.
- Critics have been pushing for a ballot question on the plans, though that's likely a moot point given the state decision.
- Draper Mayor Troy Walker suspects the new guidelines may get attention from Utah lawmakers in the 2026 legislative session.
ROY — Even after receiving word that Roy leaders' efforts to reverse a state decision denying a proposed property tax hike have stalled, foes of the increase aren't dropping efforts to rally against the tax plans.
"We're still pushing," said Deanne Chaston, one of many in the city who had helped gather signatures on petitions aimed at challenging the 28%, $1.42 million increase.
"We want the City Council, everybody, to understand we're concerned about this," added Ty Chaston, her husband.
The Utah State Tax Commission last month denied property tax hike proposals put forward by Roy and 34 other cities, towns, school districts and other entities, citing violations by the entities of new guidelines governing the process.
Taxation can be a touchy, volatile issue, and in Roy, the Chastons and others had been petitioning to get a question on the November election ballot asking whether the increase in the Weber County city tax should stand or be repealed.
Still, the issue isn't over. The Roy tax increase is fresh in the minds of critics like the Chastons, even if the hike appears to be dead.
Seeking 'a clear process'
Likewise, Draper Mayor Troy Walker, the immediate past president of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, says the new guidelines, which went into effect this year, will be a possible focus of debate among state lawmakers in the 2026 Utah legislative session starting in January.
Walker doesn't see a push to rescind the new guidelines, but rather, moves to clarify the new tax-approval process so cities better understand what the state requires of them. This year's total of 35 tax hike denials compares to one or two in years past, before the changes implemented this year per SB202 in 2025 and SB29 in 2024. State officials approved tax hike proposals put forward by 28 entities.
Utah League of Cities and Towns membership "wants a clear process," Walker said. League representatives, he suspects, "will be participating in all those policy discussions to try to make the system clearer, fairer."
There really is no appeal process. There's no way to change it. It just is what it is.
–Mayor Troy Walker, Draper
Walker, for his part, would like state officials to create a checklist that cities, school districts and other taxing entities have to follow in pursuing property tax increases. He'd also like cities to have the ability to remedy any deficiencies state officials uncover, as well as the creation of a process that allows taxing entities to appeal tax commission decisions denying their property tax hikes, particularly if the violations are relatively minor.
As it now stands, taxing entities receive no forewarning of any potential problems, just a word on whether their tax hike proposal has been accepted or rejected.
"There really is no appeal process. There's no way to change it. It just is what it is," Walker said.
A $935,965 tax hike sought by Draper officials was among the 35 proposals denied, and Walker said officials have accepted the decision and will be adjusting the city's 2025-2026 budget in response.
The Draper proposal was rejected, Walker said, because city leaders failed to include a slide itemizing proposed property tax hikes by other neighboring taxing entities — one of the new requirements — while presenting the plans to the public at a hearing as the process unfolded.
Related:
Utah tax officials deny tax hikes from 35 cities, school districts and other entities
The Utah State Tax Commission has denied proposed property tax hikes for 2026 sought by 35 cities, school district, towns and other taxing entities totaling nearly $50 million.'The only voice they have'
Roy City Manager Matt Andrews said the Roy tax hike proposal was denied because city officials hadn't publicly posted details about other proposed property tax hikes in Weber County, similar to the Draper issue. Roy officials had followed a checklist prepared by the tax commission, he said, but that checklist didn't list the requirement about posting information about neighboring entities' tax hike proposals.
What happens now is to be determined, Andrews said. But in a document prepared in anticipation of the tax hike approved by the Roy City Council on Aug. 19 being the focus of a ballot question in November — now likely a moot point — city leaders noted the need for extra funds to keep city workers' pay competitive.
"Retaining skilled and experienced staff is essential. High turnover not only raises costs for recruitment, training and overtime, but it also drains the city of institutional knowledge and expertise. When trained employees leave, service delivery suffers — response times get longer, projects are delayed and quality declines," reads the city's defense of the tax hike.
Cameron Hooper, however, doesn't think a 28% increase was necessary; that the city could have pursued a more modest tax hike to boost workers' wages. He has been part of the contingent railing against the hike.
Moreover, he and the Chastons say many in the city were blindsided by the tax hike, even though the city publicized the proposal ahead of time and held a public hearing on the plans. Many senior citizens on fixed incomes were particularly upset.
People have been signing the petitions calling for a ballot question on the issue "because they feel this is the only voice they have," said Deanne Chaston. Some 600 to 700 people had signed the petitions, with a requirement of around 1,700 valid signatures.
Ty Chaston lauded the legislation that creates the new guidelines for hiking taxes, meant to make the taxation process more transparent. "That's a great idea. This is making people have an awakening," he said.
