ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
The top 10 Utah cities for traffic ticket revenue
Apr 18, 2025, 8:00 AM | Updated: 10:04 am
FILE — UHP Trooper pullover. (UHP)
(UHP)
SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes it seems like cities are over-eager to dish out traffic tickets to pad their town’s budget.
So the Utah legislature passed Utah Code 78A-7-120 which states that revenue from traffic fines may not exceed 25% of a local government’s total general fund revenue for a fiscal year. The Utah State Auditor was tasked with tracking exactly how much of each of Utah’s cities gain from citations.
“The legislature added this test because they were concerned about towns using traffic fees as a tool to generate revenue for their general fund,” said Seth Oveson, Local Government Manager for the Utah State Auditor’s Office.
If a city earns over 25% of their revenue from traffic tickets, the overages are given to the Utah Department of Transportation.
Which cities have highest percentage of traffic ticket revenue?
For 2023 and 2024, the Auditors Office found that all Utah cities are in compliance. But there’s one thing in common with most of the cities that have the highest percentage of traffic fine revenue. Many are small towns.
Top Ten Local Governmental Entities
Sorted by Traffic Fines as a Percentage of General Fund Revenue
Table Provided By the Office of the Utah State Auditor
| Governmental Entities | General fund Revenue | Court Fines | 2024 Traffic Fines as % of Revenue | 2023 Traffic Fines as a % of Revenue |
| Sunset City | $3,359,325 | $502,013 | 14.9% | 15.5% |
| Mantua City | $1,596,394 | $206,820 | 13.0% | 13.1% |
| Wellsville City | $2,779,116 | $335,888 | 12.1% | 13.5% |
| Orderville Town | $464,330 | $48,240 | 10.4% | 2.8% |
| Willard City | $2,282,692 | $230,269 | 10.1% | 9.5% |
| Monticello City | $2,779,751 | $278,995 | 10.0% | 12.4% |
| Vernal City | $6,746,045 | $651,998 | 9.7% | 3.1% |
| Uintah City | $738,155 | $39,358 | 5.5% | 9.2% |
| Box Elder County | $14,346,450 | $783,374 | 4.9% | 2.9% |
| Holladay City | $23,179,672 | $2,142,732 | 3.2% | 2.0% |
“If you’re dealing with a very small town and their general government revenues are smaller, those traffic fees are going to make up a bigger percentage of their budget. “said Oveson.
The top 10 list does not calculate the number of citations given. And since the legislation passed in 2023, they do not have a history that goes back farther than that.
While a few of the towns are anecdotally known to be heavy-handed on traffic tickets, these numbers don’t necessarily mean that the towns are speed-traps. However, it might be good information for drivers to have in the back of their minds.
“If I was a citizen looking at it, I’d probably look at it and say ‘yep, they get a higher percent of their general fund revenue from tickets, maybe I should drive more carefully through there.'” said Oveson.
Related: How You Can Dispute a Ticket if You Get Pulled Over
