A $1,000 shopping trip at Station Park or along Bountiful's Main Street could cost shoppers an extra $2 if Davis County commissioners approve a proposed 0.2% sales tax. They face an Aug. 31 deadline to decide.

The Davis County Commission heard a formal pitch for the tax at a work session Tuesday, Aug. 4, at the Davis County Administration Building in Farmington. Andrew Gruber, executive director of the Wasatch Front Regional Council, and Miranda Jones Cox, the council's government affairs manager, told commissioners, mayors and county commission candidates that the levy would generate roughly $16 million a year countywide, according to Standard-Examiner reporting.

It would not apply to groceries, Gruber told the Standard-Examiner.

What shoppers would pay

For south Davis County consumers, the math is straightforward. On a $10 purchase, the tax adds two cents. On a $100 purchase, 20 cents. On a $1,000 purchase, $2.

Current combined sales tax rates in Bountiful, Farmington, North Salt Lake and Woods Cross stand at 7.25%, according to Utah State Tax Commission records. The proposed increase would push those rates to 7.45%, matching Salt Lake County's current rate.

Davis County already collects four local option transportation taxes totaling 1.05%. It is the only Wasatch Front county that has not adopted this fifth option; Utah, Salt Lake, Summit and Weber counties have all done so.

Where the money goes

Under the proposed breakdown, 0.05% would flow to cities for transportation. Another 0.1% would be split between transit and a commuter rail subaccount created to help fund FrontRunner double-tracking. The remaining 0.05%, worth about $4 million annually, would go to the county for transportation or public safety.

Cox told attendees that if the county acts before Oct. 1, the tax would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and the 0.1% portion would carry "maximum flexibility" for any purpose through Sept. 30, 2029, generating about $22 million. Delay a year, and that flexible pot shrinks to roughly $14 million.

A three-year clock on that flexibility window has already started because Weber County recently voted unanimously to impose the tax, Cox said.

Commissioner pushes back

Not everyone at the table was ready to move. Commissioner Lorene Kamalu called the proposal anything but simple, the Standard-Examiner reported.

"Right now, there's already $400 annually going to transit from every household in Davis County," Kamalu said at the work session. "Davis County is paying 10% of the cost but only receiving 4% of the service."

Kamalu also questioned the timing, noting a new commission will take office soon. She said she felt "pressured" and suggested the incoming commissioners, some of whom attended the session, may be better positioned to decide.

Her broader concern: the state has cut income taxes while local governments absorb unfunded mandates and raise their own levies to deliver services.

The deadline

The commission can impose the tax outright without a public vote. If commissioners instead want voters to weigh in on the November ballot, Davis County Clerk Brian McKenzie said the ballot question must reach election officers by Aug. 31.

No formal vote date has been announced. As we reported July 30, the commission was already weighing the $3.2 billion FrontRunner expansion through the Woods Cross corridor, a project the commuter rail subaccount would partially fund.

Residents can contact the Davis County Commission through its website or attend future work sessions at the administration building in Farmington.