Kane County Commission votes two to one to increase short-term rental taxes in order to qualify for state grants
- Ty Gant
- May 28
- 3 min read
The meeting of the Kane County Commission on the morning of Tuesday, May 27, was relatively quick, with nine items on the agenda outside of the regular reports.
Following opening procedures, a representative of the Church Wells special service district reported on coordinated efforts with the Big Water Fire Department to annex and provide fire protection to nearby communities, stating, “We’re moving forward, we’re working on it.”
Following the public comment period, the meeting recognized the retirement of three county employees: Robert Riding, Lynn Brown and Lloyd Millet. Millet and Riding stood to receive the county’s traditional sandstone plaques, with their respective department heads recognizing their work over the years, in the Assessors and Tourism offices respectively; Brown was absent, so a co-worker from Kane County Corrections stood in to receive his plaque.
The following item on the agenda amended the county’s fee schedule, specifying fees for providing services to special service districts. Said Taylor Glover with the County’s Government Affairs Office, “With these fees in place for the Government Affairs office and Attorney’s Office, we’ll be able to provide services to special service districts.” A provision was added in the schedule specifying which services will be based on availability within the county.
The commission then considered the renewal of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Grant, a regular annual grant given to Kane County from the state to support Drug Task Force activities. After specifying that part of the match necessary to qualify for the grant comes from Kanab City to support the Drug Task Force, the Commission unanimously approved the grant renewal.
The following item considered a discussion and update on HB456 Transient Room Tax (TRT) funds. HB456 provides counties an opening to apply for additional grant funding for TRT qualifying projects, such as EMS, S&R, road maintenance and tourism promotion - in order to qualify, counties are required to implement a .25 percent increase to TRT, a tax on short term rentals like hotel rooms, VRBOs and Airbnbs. After some discussion, in which all three commissioners expressed irritation at the state’s decision to lock benefits behind a tax increase, Commissioners Kubeja and Meyeres voted to implement the tax and Commissioner Brown voted against it, passing the motion two to one.
The commission spoke on the feasibility of Kanab City’s desired charge to future Vermillion Cliffs Special Service District new residential and commercial properties. The legality of such a fee was brought into question, as well as the benefit it would ultimately confer to the city in exchange for development of fire services. The commissioners renewed a request made in the previous work meeting where the terms of the contract were established: the removal of a new property fee. Said Commissioner Meyeres, “This is us communicating to the city in an open and transparent way that this one issue is problematic, and that we’re open to continuing to work on this contract.”
In the concluding portion of the meeting, Kane County Clerk/ Auditor Chameill Lamb reported on a regular audit of the county, stating, “We just finished a good audit … we are not really over budget anywhere, yet.” The details of the audit are available within the meeting’s packet. After a brief assignment report, including progress on trail maintenance in the county and the work appointing a new justice court judge from among selected candidates, the meeting adjourned.
