Utah Local-Ish Tax Burden Comparison

Methodology

Tax Areas

Tax areas are geographic boundaries used by Utah's State Tax Commission to determine which taxing entities apply to a property. Each tax area has a unique code and extension number that identifies the combination of all taxing entities that levy taxes on properties within that area. These entities can include cities, counties, school districts, special service districts, water districts, sewer districts, and other local government entities.

Source document: Utah Tax Area Rates 2025 (PDF)

Local-ish Rate Calculation

Entities are classified by the leading digit of their State Tax Commission entity code (the thousands band). Cities (3xxx) and local service/improvement districts (4xxx) are included; counties (1xxx), schools (2xxx), and Public Infrastructure Districts (5xxx) are excluded. Libraries are excluded by name regardless of code.

Included in local-ish rates

• City general fund taxes (3xxx), including county-collected city-level general fund taxes for unincorporated areas
• Water, sewer, and irrigation improvement districts (4xxx) — e.g. Central Weber Sewer Improvement District
• Parks and recreation districts (4xxx)
• Fire protection districts (4xxx)
• Mosquito abatement, cemetery, and other special service districts (4xxx)
• County municipal-type service funds and local bond levies (6xxx), such as municipal service funds and fire-district bonds

Excluded from local-ish rates

• County rates (1xxx) — general county government taxes that apply county-wide
• School district rates (2xxx) — public school funding that applies across entire school districts
• Library rates — county library system taxes (excluded by name, whatever the code)
• Public Infrastructure Districts (PID, 5xxx) — developer-financed districts (statutorily named "Public Infrastructure District") that fund infrastructure for a specific new development. Note these are distinct from the older water/sewer Improvement Districts (4xxx), which are included.
• Road overlay districts, animal welfare districts, and health care districts — excluded by name regardless of code

Example: Riverdale (Weber County)
Tax area: 583 - 0000

Included rates

• Riverdale: 0.001414 (3080)
• Central Weber Sewer Improvement District: 0.000540 (4010)
• Weber Basin Water Conservancy District: 0.000191 (4005)
• Weber Area Dispatch 911 and Emergency Services District: 0.000163 (4320)
• Weber County Mosquito Abatement District: 0.000064 (4080)
• Roy Water Conservancy Subdistrict: 0.000044 (4130)

Excluded rates

• Weber: 0.001938 (1010)
• Multicounty Assessing & Collecting Levy: 0.000014 (1015)
• County Assessing & Collecting Levy: 0.000163 (1020)
• Weber County School District: 0.005792 (2020)

Max Local-ish Rate

For each city, this analysis identifies the tax area with the highest local-ish rate. This represents the maximum local tax burden that residents in that city might face, depending on their specific location within city boundaries. The actual rate for any given property will depend on which tax area it falls within.

Population and Area Data

• Data comes from the Utah Geospatial Resource Center (https://gis.utah.gov/products/sgid/boundaries/municipal/).
• Area includes water bodies (may not match land area from other sources).

Source Code, Notes, and Original Data

See https://github.com/kraig-droid/localish-utah-propertytax-analysis