CEDAR CITY — The Iron County Commission has approved a countywide 0.3% sales tax increase to help pay for a new jail.
At its regular meeting on Monday, commissioners Mike Bleak, Paul Cozzens and Marilyn Wood voted unanimously to approve a resolution authorizing the implementation of a local option sales tax, as is now permitted under the newly amended Utah Code section 59-12-1226.
The newly added provision permitting rural counties to impose such a tax for public safety purposes was part of House Bill 488, Transportation Spending Modifications, which passed unanimously in both legislative chambers and was signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox on March 21.
The tax increase will go into effect on July 1, the same day HB 488 becomes effective, officials said.
Iron County Auditor Lucas Little said the state will soon begin notifying local businesses about the upcoming change. The increase is expected to generate an additional $4.2 million per year for Iron County, according to county officials.
“At this point, we’re pretty confident that this tax increase will fund the facility,” Bleak told Cedar City News afterward, adding, “We’ve met with our financial advisors almost daily and we’ve had different conversations with them to run different scenarios. With this funding stream, we believe that we’ll be able to fund the full project. There should not be a need for truth in taxation for building the jail.”
As previously reported, for the past few years Iron County has been looking to replace its existing correctional facility and sheriff’s office complex, which was built in 1987. After considering multiple possible sites, county officials ultimately decided on a location in an industrial area south of Cedar City Regional Airport.
Last August, following a truth in taxation hearing, the Iron County Commission members initially approved a property tax increase but decided to rescind that decision a week later and instead put a $90 million general obligation bond request on the November ballot. That bond measure failed, however, leaving the commission to decide whether to revisit the option of raising property taxes via the truth in taxation process.
Or, as some had suggested during previous public hearings, perhaps the Utah Legislature could devise a way to raise the money via a consumption tax.
To that end, Rep. Rex Shipp (R-Cedar City), sponsored a bill during the 2024 Utah Legislature that would have permitted rural counties to impose a local sales tax specifically for correctional facilities. The measure, HB 113, passed in the House but was never brought to a vote in the Senate. Instead, lawmakers worked into HB 488 a public safety funding option for rural counties (classes three through six), since they tend to be excluded from the major transportation projects designated for more urban areas.
Bleak said at the commission meeting that even though HB 113 didn’t pass, the end result was essentially the same.
“Really, the discussion was, there’s already a vehicle that will accomplish the same thing without passing new legislation,” Bleak said.
“This seemed like a better option going forward,” Wood agreed. “But we want to thank Rex (Shipp). He was awesome to run it and to work through it.”
“Sen. (Evan) Vickers was also very, very helpful, as well,” Bleak added. And as you know, a bunch of other members of the House and the Senate. We spent a lot of time with a lot of representatives. It was good to be involved in the process.”
Bleak, who traveled to the state Capitol during the legislative session on at least two occasions to talk to lawmakers about Iron County’s jail funding needs, also thanked the others in the county’s contingent who’d made at least one trip to Salt Lake City, including Iron County Sheriff Ken Carpenter, jail commander Lt. Shalon Shaver, Iron County Clerk Jonathan Whittaker and county auditor Little.
“This has been a huge group effort,” Bleak said. “You know, the ups and downs with the Legislature and being able just to work through the politics of the Legislature was really a ton of hard work. But ultimately, it’ll benefit the county for the foreseeable future and for decades to come.”
Contacted via telephone on Friday, Bleak told Cedar City News that he’s looking forward to seeing the development get rolling.
“I’m excited about it,” he said. “We’re working through the details of exactly what we need to do to get started. We’ve got our finance people, our architects and our builders all working together to figure out a timeline.”
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