Utah County approves ‘absolutely necessary’ tax increase for 2025 budget

PROVO — The Utah County Commission approved its budget for 2025 Wednesday, which includes a significant property tax increase that the commissioners said was “absolutely necessary.”

The county approved an increase of 47.99% for its portion of the property tax, plus a 10% increase on the assessing and collecting portion of the tax.

This means the county property tax for an average home worth $532,000 would increase from $190.78 to $282.33, or about $91.55 a year. For the county assessing and collecting portion, the tax would increase from an average of $31.89 to $35.35, or about $3.46 per year.

This would equate to about $8 a month from each household to “address noted services and deficits,” county administrator Ezra Nair said in August at a truth-in-taxation hearing. He acknowledged that the increase will have a significant impact on residents.

The tax increase was met with staunch criticism at that August meeting from residents already hurting from inflation and the increased cost of living.

Nair said the county has taken steps to reduce its property tax burden. It cut more than $2 million from the county health department, letting go more than 100 employees and seeking revenue from other sources — such as incentivizing businesses to come to the county in order to increase sales tax revenue and getting federal aid for certain projects.

Read the full story and more from Cassidy Wixom on ksl.com.