Frustrated Salt Lake County residents seek referendum on 14% tax increase

SALT LAKE CITY — Goud Maragani, of Riverton, knew he wasn’t alone in his frustration after Salt Lake County leaders voted last week to increase countywide property taxes by about 14%.

A few text messages later, and the former Salt Lake County clerk candidate had helped gather about a dozen residents willing to challenge the county’s decision. That group of Salt Lake County residents is now seeking to put that decision on the ballot, calling for a referendum on the tax increase.

“We’re looking for ways to make it affordable again,” Maragani told KSL after signing paperwork seeking to put the motion on the ballot Monday afternoon. “We can’t control the price of housing, can’t control the price of gas, can’t control the price of food … but with property taxes, we can actually control whether they go up or not.”

Salt Lake County Clerk’s Office officials told KSL that they’re currently reviewing the proposed referendum, which is expected to be sent to the county’s budget officer for a fiscal and legal impact statement this week. The budget office will have 20 days to respond before it’s sent back for a final review, just to make sure the referendum is legally allowed to go to voters.

If it does, organizers will have 45 days to collect signatures from 7.75% of registered voters in Salt Lake County, including certain percentages in each part of the county. The number frequently changes, but the clerk’s office anticipates that the measure will need signatures from approximately 45,000 registered voters, with signatures gathered in at least 75% of voter participation areas.

Those signatures will go through a verifying process if enough signatures are collected, before the referendum goes on the 2026 ballot.

The effort comes after last week’s lengthy — and at times, contentious — meeting where county leaders approved their 2026 budget. It includes the county’s first tax increase since 2019, which translates to about a $64.92 per year increase on a home valued at $638,000. Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, a Democrat, requested a higher increase, as the county deals with growing jail needs and other public safety concerns, as well as growing inflation.

Salt Lake County Council Chairwoman Dea Theodore, a Republican, said the county agrees that public safety is a top priority right now, and the council made “tough decisions” to lower the tax impact on residents before the final vote. Some of those cuts raised controversy on their own, such as a cut to a county child care program and a county-owned senior center, which resulted in some reconsideration.

But Maragani and others calling for a referendum say that money is tight right now, and the increase comes in the middle of an “affordability crisis.” One of the petition supporters even came to the Salt Lake County Government Center dressed as the Grinch with a horse-riding stick in response to an exchange between Salt Lake County Council members Aimee Winder Newton and Carlos Moreno toward the end of last week’s meeting.

During the final discussion, Moreno — the only member to vote against the tax increase — said the county didn’t do enough to make cuts to combat the rising costs. Winder Newton took exception, asking why Moreno didn’t bring up “a single proposed cut” during budget negotiations, later saying that the county needs “work horses, not show horses” as she thanked the rest of her colleagues.

The group agrees with Moreno, asserting that the county didn’t make tough enough decisions, Maragani said. It plans to put out information on how people can sign the referendum, should it qualify for signatures.

“It’ll take a little bit of effort … but I have heard from so many people from across the county that they’re upset about the tax increase,” he said. “They feel that the County Council is not listening to us.”

However, in a joint statement, Wilson and the council members who approved the tax increase say that the measure could have “serious implications for funding critical county operations,” as the county prepares to start its new budget in January.

They argue that it will hinder public safety and other key programs now, and lead to even larger requests in the future.

“Overturning a county tax increase does not eliminate the underlying county costs or mandated responsibilities,” they wrote, in part. “Rather, it simply shifts how and whether the county can meet them, ultimately forcing reductions in critical services, especially for our most vulnerable — and will eventually lead to the need for an even greater tax increase down the road.”

Read more: Audit calls for more transparency in how Salt Lake County DA makes decisions