Jordan Valley Water District Plans to Increase Its Coercive Property Tax
The Jordan Valley Water District is proposing to raise the property tax it charges on Utah’s homes, vehicles, and businesses. The water district, which supplies water to southwest Salt Lake County, claims this tax hike is needed for Utah’s future, but closer scrutiny demonstrates this claim plays on the water scarcity myth that water districts love to promote because it scares taxpayers into funding expensive and unnecessary water projects.
We know this because Utah isn’t running out of water. In fact, our municipal water supply is growing as thirsty farmland is converted into more efficient cityscapes, increasing the municipal water supply. Utah currently squanders its water savings with wasteful usage due to myriad leadership failures. This is why the Great Salt Lake is drying up, and the property taxes Jordan Valley Water District is trying to hike up are directly responsible.
By collecting property taxes, Utah’s water districts are able to make our municipal water prices the cheapest in the country. And because our water is so cheap, Utahns waste it at higher per person rates than municipal residents of any other state. There just isn’t a compelling financial reason to save water, so many Utahns don’t even think to do so. This results in overwatered lawns, gutters flowing with sprinkler water, and a shrinking Great Salt Lake.
Instead of rectifying this waste problem, Jordan Valley Water District is about to make it even more entrenched with this tax hike.
The sign outside the Jordan Valley Conservancy District’s headquarters. This agency
is attempting to raise property taxes instead of water rates.
The water district could generate the $3 million it wants by slightly raising its water prices. The district earns some $104 million in gross revenues and $17 million in net revenues, so this $3 million could easily be absorbed with water rate increases. This would also give budget-conscious customers the option to save money through conservation instead of being coerced into paying the property tax whether or not they save water. This tax hike will also continue to strong-arm low-income Utahns into subsidizing the lawns of the wealthy and Utah’s tax exempt institutions.
Fortunately, there’s still something you can do to stop this coercive tax hike. The water district’s board of trustees will hold a public hearing before they vote on the tax increase.
The hearing will be held at 6 PM on August 11 at:
Jordan Valley Water District
8215 South 1300 West
West Jordan
Whether you want to save the Great Salt Lake through commonsense conservation or you just want to keep your hard-earned money in your wallet, we encourage you to attend the hearing and join the growing chorus of people committed to commonsense, fiscally conservative water policy.