Truth in Taxation?

Nope. 

In 1985 Utah passed a law that until this year has been largely ignored in Utah: Truth in Taxation. This law requires all taxing governments in Utah to be transparent about taxes and particularly the necessity of tax increases. But the county and city governments seem to have noted the law exists, and have made an effort to be transparent. Here is the Utah County website (where I live) for Truth in Taxation: 

Here is how the law is supposed to work, according to Howard Stephenson, one of the Utah State Senators in 2019 (https://alec.org/article/utahs-truth-in-taxation-for-property-taxes/):

Truth-in-Taxation is a revenue-driven system, not a rate-driven system. Generally, as valuations of existing property increase from county assessors’ annual adjustments of taxable property values to keep pace with market values, property tax rates decrease. This automatic reduction in property tax rates prevents local governments from getting a windfall simply because valuations of existing properties have increased.

If tax revenues go up, it's because of growth only, the effects of the housing market being removed. And growth, while a good thing, is not easy to make happen. Sometimes it's easy, as when a population keeps growing and the city leaders allow the construction of more homes, then there is more revenue. Presumably that new revenue will be needed to help administer a large population. So the Truth in Taxation law was a pretty good one. It prevents the county and city leaders from getting lazy, allowing a windfall one year to expand government and creating inefficiencies, where the same job is done by more people. And it gives us voters a real thing to look at when choosing our leaders: did they cost us money or save us money in running the government?

This makes our yearly tax notice from the country a great way to tell if we should reelect our current leaders, or dump them for someone else. If tax rates go up, dump them. If they go down, keep them. It is really that simple.

But in Utah there has been a freeze on school tax rates, which is by far the largest share of the property tax, over the last five years. During that time there was tremendous grown in the county, and the housing market shot up tremendously. The affect of the housing market alone should have tanked the rates, and growth should bring in lots of new revenue without increasing the rates. The Truth in Taxation law then requires the rates to drop.

But this year they are proposing a rate increase. There should have been a significant rate drop this year. The leaders have failed miserably. They seem to be expanding government for no reason whatever. There is never "no reason whatever," there are only reasons they don't tell us, like they wanted to hire friends to cushy no-nothing jobs, or pay hikes above inflation, or new buildings to sit in. We had one county commissioner who vastly expanded county government (like, hiring 8 new guys to replace one), who was reelected, then fled the state when it became news.

When the County told us about the proposed tax hike in a recent mailer, they didn't say why. They made it sound like it's all for the children. Most of it will go to the schools, but they have the same fiscal responsibility that the County has; they must also run efficiently. A tax increase is a sign of their failure as leaders.

Oppose any tax hike. It's the surest sign we have poor leaders. Reject the tax hike, then vote out the leaders.

Valuation: How much the county thinks your home is worth on the market.
Revenues: The total tax paid by all residents in the county.
Rates: The percentage if your home's value used to calculate your taxes.

https://www.utahfoundation.org/reports/essential-tax-property-taxation-utah/