Utah County raises transient room tax, even though commissioner says tourism fund is ‘healthy’

The Utah County Commission passed a resolution Wednesday that ups the transient room tax on short-term rentals by a quarter of a percent.

The county brought this resolution to discussion after the Utah Legislature passed a bill this year stating counties could collect up to 4.5% on the transient room tax, compared to the previous cap of 4.25%.

Commissioner Skyler Beltran raised the question: Why raise the tax now when the travel and tourism fund is “healthy” and many of the projects planned can all be funded by the revenue the county already has?

Beltran said he spoke with hotel partners in the area and found mixed reviews about the increase. He also ran scenarios to see how much more expensive hotel stays would be for people with the increased rate.

Although it’s nice that the tax would mainly affect tourists to the county, it would still have an impact on any resident who needs to stay at a hotel elsewhere in the county, even if it’s just a few dollars difference, Beltran said.

“We’re talking minimal dollars, but I just think the overlying principle of we shouldn’t raise the tax just because we can (applies),” he said.

Commissioner Amelia Powers Gardner agreed that no tax should be raised just because it’s allowed, but she sees a value in getting extra revenue for the travel fund. She said the county has been working with the Utah Legislature to determine if the transient tax funds can be used for more things.

For example, the county currently uses the general fund to pay for search and rescue operations, canyon road maintenance and other public safety needs in popular spots. However, because many of those services are heavily used by tourists, Gardner said it could be beneficial to the county to use the extra tourism revenue on bolstering those services.

“We’re not getting lost climbing the Y. It’s people that are visiting, it’s travel and tourism who are calling search and rescue hiking the Y,” she said. “I would be in favor of passing this so that we can prepare for those expanded uses, which I think is a proper use of that. I’d rather the travel and tourism pay for that than our general fund.”

Beltran voiced concern that the travel fund is more “volatile” than others and doesn’t have as consistent revenue. He doesn’t want to build new programs that would require ongoing payments from the tourism fund compared to projects that have one-time payments, he said.

Gardner said having a healthy fund helps balance out that risk for years that don’t generate as much revenue.

The County Commission voted 2-1 in favor of the resolution, with Beltran voting in opposition. The tax increase will take effect on Oct. 1.