The Utah State Board of Education finance committee voted Thursday to ask staff to convene a working group to study the voted-and-board local levy guarantee, truth-in-taxation timing and transparency and consider potential statutory amendments.

The working group will include business administrators from local LEAs, local board members, legislators, Utah State Board of Education staff, the Utah Taxpayers Association, the state tax commission and a county representative. Chair Cindy Davis moved the recommendation and the committee approved it in a voice vote; Member Christy Boggess recorded opposition.

Committee members and staff said the request grew out of sustained public concern — voiced during the meeting’s public-comment period — about rapid property-tax increases this year, the mechanics of the state’s “voted and board” equalization program and the timing of the Truth in Taxation (TNT) process. Public commenters said districts sometimes adopt budgets before TNT hearings and that the current financing rules incentivize districts to raise local levies to capture state equalization dollars.

USBE staff presented background and several scenarios that would change how the state equalizes property-tax revenue. Dale Frost, minimum school program administrator, and Sam Urie, school finance director, explained the core technical elements: the guarantee covers up to 20 tax “increments” (one increment = 0.001 in tax rate), the state appropriated roughly $289,000,000 to the guarantee program for the current fiscal year, and shifting the number of guaranteed increments or adding state dollars to the program would reallocate who benefits across districts.

Staff showed that the program’s current structure can produce widely different outcomes across districts. For example, a single increment generates more than $750 per WPU for Park City but only about $8 per WPU for some lower-valuation districts. Staff also presented five scenarios ranging from keeping current law to substantially increasing the guarantee; the scenarios showed potential state costs or savings that run from tens of millions to multiple billions of dollars depending on the option and scope.

Members emphasized that USBE administers the guarantee’s formulas but does not set property tax rates. Dale Frost and other staff repeatedly urged caution: changing the law could have uneven, uncertain effects because local districts decide whether to levy increments and how to use local levies (operating revenue, capital levies, bond campaigns). Committee members said the proposed working group should both identify feasible, narrowly tailored fixes (for example, changes to TNT timing or disclosure) and explain potential unintended consequences to the full board and legislature.

The motion directs staff to convene the working group, gather input, and return findings for the board’s consideration; staff said the group could meet and report potential narrow recommendations in time for the upcoming session if the members find consensus, but that more fundamental reforms would likely require a longer deliberative process.

The committee’s action follows more than an hour of staff briefing and public comment from parents, district business officers and former legislative leaders who asked the board to clarify the interaction of local levies, state equalization and TNT deadlines. John Larson, business administrator for Jordan School District, and Todd Haber, business administrator for Granite School District, told the committee that lowering unrestricted state funding and converting it to restricted funding would reduce local autonomy. Former state senator Howard Stephenson suggested hard-wiring a half-percentage point for equalization into WPU increases to provide predictability for low-wealth districts.

The committee’s motion passed in voice vote with Member Christy Boggess voting in opposition. Staff will return with a proposed working-group charter and timeline.