Salt Lake County Council votes to increase sales tax by .2% to fund Oxbow jail
Feb 18, 2025, 9:31 PM | Updated: 10:22 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Sales tax is about to increase in Salt Lake County.
On Tuesday, the Salt Lake County Council voted, seven to two, to increase sales tax by .2%, a small amount that’s expected to have a big impact, but not everyone thinks it’s a good idea.
Basically, if someone spends $5 in Salt Lake County, they will pay an extra penny in sales tax. However, this tax will not be applied to groceries.
It’s expected those pennies will add up to enough money to reopen 180 beds for inmates at the Salt Lake County Oxbow Jail.
“It’s a minimal amount, but it will have a big impact on our criminal justice system,” said Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake County Mayor.
Wilson said the tax will generate an extra $76 million a year. Half of the revenue will go to the state for Salt Lake County road projects, and each city in the county will get a piece.
The last $19 million of expected revenue will reopen beds at the Oxbow jail to relieve overcrowding from the county’s main metro jail. It’s been a problem so bad that the Salt Lake County Sheriff said they’re releasing roughly 100 inmates a month just to make room.
“If we didn’t do that, we would be full by tomorrow,” said Rosie Rivera, Salt Lake County Sheriff.
The Salt Lake County Council voting to increase the county sales tax on Tuesday. (KSL TV)
The tax increase comes after Salt Lake County voters rejected a public safety bond that would have combined the county jails into one and added several other centers to house and support low-level offenders.
While many agree the issue needs to be addressed, some on the county council think this is the wrong solution.
“I feel like we do need to house the criminals, but I just think it can be done a different way,” said Sheldon Stewart, Salt Lake County Council member.
Some taxpayers spoke out against it too.
“We are already subject to the highest sales tax in the state, so any increase to sales tax is something I don’t think we can justify,” said Shannon Wolfe, Salt Lake City resident.
The county ultimately voted it in because they said they had no other option.
Salt Lake County officials said taxpayers will first notice the added tax this July. The sheriff said it’ll take about three months for them to renovate and staff the empty pod at the Oxbow jail before they can start taking in extra inmates.
Contributing: Michael Houck, KSL TV
