Utah Housing - How has the Legislature hurt families and how can they fix and undo this harm

How has the legislature hurt taxpayer re: property taxes and how is the state creating tax incentives to have out of state corporations buy up our housing stock and increase housing prices and taxes?

 

As we have watched our property taxes go up, we wonder why, as the rates are supposed to protect us from increases just because our property value went up. It isn't supposed to do that. So why have our property taxes gone up, even when the entities such as school boards or cities haven't raised them?

Several factors. The formulas for property taxes are designed to keep a stable income for schools and cities. If your property values go up or down, they are still getting the same taxes. 

When the government gives a large corporation or a sports complex a property tax break, the formula designed to keep things stable, raises everyone else's taxes.

When some corporation from Texas buys up 45 houses in Salt Lake County, and rents them out, our government gives that owner the same property tax discount that a single owner gets. The 45% Residential Exception. However, if you have a 2nd home or cabin, you pay the full property tax on it and do not get the 45% Residential Exception. 

If we started to change this 45% Residential Exception for corporations that own large numbers of houses and move over time to restoring the full property tax, the corporations that have purchased all our housing stock would start thinking about purchasing homes in some other state, letting our residents have a fair chance of buying a home without competing against these corporations. It would also lower everyone else's property taxes. If done over time, it would be less likely to raise rent rates. 

 

The Utah Legislature passed a bill in 2015 that I voted against. While it had a good goal, it raised property taxes statewide without the typical truth-in-taxation hearing we make other government entities have. The legislature changed the formula designed to protect us from property tax increases when our home values went up. The next year it had raised $75 Million, and the legislature put it in a fund called the State Basic School Levy. If you look at your last year's property taxes, you will see it is almost 12% of your property taxes.

It didn't start that big, but a couple of years later the legislature changed the formula for 5 years to have that fund grow even more.

 While the intent was to help school districts like Salt Lake City and Granite compete against Park City, the solution to raise our property taxes without asking us or telling us was a mistake.

The legislature should fund this though the education funds and not from property tax increases.

Vote for Fred C. Cox, House District 30

Fred C. Cox, 2026 Candidate for Utah House District 30

 Emailed 2/21/26

Caucus and Convention supporters:

As many of you know, I filed to run as a Republican candidate for District 30 of the Utah House of Representatives. 

Two years ago, I was able to win a 2/3 majority vote at convention, win the primary and was within 700 votes of winning in the General Election out of 14,000 voters, against a current city council member.

Many that have asked me to run again have told me I have the best chance of wining the election this fall, but have asked if this district can be won by any Republican.

They pointed out that the 2024 US Presidential race in our District 30 was 50% Harris and 47% Trump.

I have responded, Yes!!

Remember our County Assessor won our District 30 by 200 votes. We likely will not have as many voters showing up this year. The District has been a swing district.

The candidate that will win this fall is the candidate that gets the voters out.

With your help, we can win!

This Saturday, February 28th, from Noon to 2pm, at the Hunter Library meeting Room our Legislative House District Chair Jay Rees has scheduled a caucus training meeting. I will be there.

Caucus night this year in on St. Patrick's Day, Tuesday, March 17 at Granger High School. Check in at 6:00pm and it starts at 7:00pm.

You can per-register at:

https://precinctportal.org/

The Party has a new system to avoid the Denial of Service (DoS) attack from 2 years ago that shut down our credential system twenty minutes before caucus.

They also will have paper back up. 

Come and bring your neighbors. 

Fred C. Cox, 2026 Candidate for Utah House District 30,

"I believe we must stand up and be heard or watch our constitutionally protected rights disappear. We can't continue to let government take over our lives".

That was the reason I ran for office when my State Representative, Ron Bigelow, stepped down to help the Governor at the end of 2010, and it is still so today.

I had the opportunity to serve in the Utah House of Representatives in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016. During that time, I had a reputation of being willing to speak up and to fight for and vote for what I believed was right, no matter the opposition.

I also had the reputation of reading though all of the bills I would vote on, and after the 2016 session a comedy song joked that I might have known other legislators' bills better than they did. During my service, I had one of the best floor attendance records of anyone in the House, with the exception of one rare House Judiciary Standing Committee meeting called during floor time where I missed 12 votes in 2015. They were the only ones I missed that year. I wanted to be in the chamber during debates and voting so I could hear both sides of an issue and see if a bill was ready or needed to be amended or voted down. "Motion to Amend" was something I said more than once. I always voted for or against the bill no matter who the sponsor was or what party they belonged to. The last few years the Utah House of Representatives has created a "Fred Cox Award" to pass on to legislators that find items that need corrections that everyone else missed. 

 

 

Please come to one of my Town Hall meetings and help me understand the issues that are important to you.

I have scheduled public town hall meetings on the following dates. Bring your friends.

Thursday, March 26, 2026 at 6:30pm, West Valley City Library (near the mall)

Thursday, April 2, 2026, at 6:30pm, Hunter Library

Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 3:30pm, Hunter Library

 

I am the only Republican candidate that filed "convention only", and so the Caucus meeting on March 17th and Convention on April 17th and April 18th, matter to my race. I need your vote.

Fred C. Cox

fred@fredcox4utah.com

 

https://www.fredcox4utah.com/