2023 Cost of County Government

2023 Cost of County Government Report

A report by the Utah Taxpayers Association

2023 Cost of County Government Report This report is based on 2021/22 data and shows the relationship between county government revenue and citizen income in Utah’s 29 counties. This data provides a snapshot on average of how much of each thousand dollars earned by a citizen is consumed by the county government.

In interpreting the cost of government in these various counties, readers should keep in mind that each county provides a different mix of services.

While these calculations are based on the county’s resident population, some taxes and fees, such as sales tax and traffic fines, are also paid by non-residents. Counties which see a large number of tourists or out-of-county visitors may therefore be slightly disadvantaged by the methodology.

To see where your county ranks, head to the table on the last page.

Sources Population Data: US Census Bureau, 1-Year Estimates from data.census.gov Per Capita Income Data: US Census Bureau, 5-Year Estimates from data.census.gov Government Revenue Data: Utah State Auditor's Office, audited county financial reports

Utah Taxpayers Association

City Government Revenue Per Capita Best 5

Worst 5

Washington $402.82

Summit

$2,861.78

Cache

$442.33

Grand

$2,749.08

Box Elder

$490.49

Kane

$2,688.59

Iron

$502.88

Daggett

$2,621.59

Utah

$509.76

Garfield

$2,321.55

This metric, revenue from taxes and fees per capita, shows how much revenue the county collects in taxes and fees per resident.

This figure is especially useful in comparing different counties and indicates the level of fiscal restraint exercised by elected officials.

On average, Utah counties collected $1,232.99, an increase of $207.20 from 2020 in per capita in taxes and fees.

Utah Taxpayers Association

Revenue per $1,000 of Citizen Income Best 5

Worst 5

Washington

$12.55

Daggett

$116.59

Davis

$15.39

Garfield

$89.71

Cache

$16.90

Grand

$89.58

Utah

$17.05

Kane

$81.30

Box Elder

$17.73

Beaver

$81.14

This second metric, revenue from taxes and fees per $1,000 of citizen income, shows the individualized burden on taxpayers by controlling for income.

This figure indicates how much a taxpayer’s consumption ability is impacted by the county government and illustrates the personal impact of government spending on individuals.

This can be used to compare government spending in counties with similar resident income.

On average, Utah counties collected $$43.37 per $1,000 in citizen income.

Utah Taxpayers Association

County 1 Summit 2 Grand 3 Kane 4 Daggett 5 Garfield 6 Beaver 7 Emery 8 Rich 9 Duchesne 10 Wasatch 11 Millard 12 Wayne 13 Sevier 14 Carbon 15 Salt Lake 16 Juab 17 Piute 18 Weber 19 Morgan 20 Uintah 21 San Juan 22 Tooele 23 Davis 24 Sanpete 25 Utah 26 Iron 27 Box Elder 28 Cache 29 Washington Median Average

County Government Population Rank Revenue from Taxes Rank and Fees 43,036 10 9,769 22 8,227 23 1,014 29 5,281 25 7,327 24 10,099 21 2,628 27 20,161 16 36,619 12 13,330 18 2,645 26 22,069 14 20,571 15 1,186,257 1 12,567 20 1,487 28 269,561 4 12,832 19 37,141 11 14,359 17 79,934 7 369,948 3 29,724 13 702,434 2 62,429 8 61,498 9 140,173 6 197,680 5 20,571 $ 116,579 $

County Per County Gov. County Gov. Revenue Capita Rank Revenue from Taxes Rank from Taxes and Fees Per Rank Income & Fees Per Capita $1000 of Citizen Income

$123,159,702 5 $26,855,767 13 $22,119,049 15 $2,658,296 28 $12,260,123 22 $14,710,230 21 $17,321,002 19 $4,351,613 26 $32,808,542 10 $52,242,876 8 $17,905,540 18 $3,179,874 27 $21,668,000 16 $19,839,285 17 $1,140,083,401 1 $11,376,255 23 $1,290,782 29 $204,579,286 3 $9,686,515 24 $25,509,621 14 $8,986,528 25 $48,980,336 9 $202,082,939 4 $15,501,460 20 $358,074,104 2 $31,394,195 11 $30,164,323 12 $62,003,396 7 $79,629,757 6 22,119,049 $ 89,669,752 $

$60,768 1 $ $30,690 9 $ $33,068 6 $ $22,485 27 $ $25,878 19 $ $24,742 22 $ $25,188 21 $ $24,390 25 $ $26,032 17 $ $43,762 2 $ $26,164 16 $ $28,326 12 $ $25,204 20 $ $24,581 24 $ $37,098 4 $ $26,598 14 $ $18,595 29 $ $31,369 8 $ $38,036 3 $ $25,922 18 $ $21,318 28 $ $29,984 10 $ $35,489 5 $ $23,476 26 $ $29,891 11 $ $24,671 23 $ $27,660 13 $ $26,175 15 $ $32,104 7 $ 26,175 $ 29,299 $

2,861.78 1 $ 2,749.08 2 $ 2,688.59 3 $ 2,621.59 4 $ 2,321.55 5 $ 2,007.67 6 $ 1,715.12 7 $ 1,655.86 8 $ 1,627.33 9 $ 1,426.66 10 $ 1,343.25 11 $ 1,202.22 12 $ 981.83 13 $ 964.43 14 $ 961.08 15 $ 905.25 16 $ 868.04 17 $ 758.94 18 $ 754.87 19 $ 686.83 20 $ 625.85 21 $ 612.76 22 $ 546.25 23 $ 521.51 24 $ 509.76 25 $ 502.88 26 $ 490.49 27 $ 442.33 28 $ 402.82 29 $ 961.08 $ 1,232.99 $

*Note: At the time of publication, Cache, Rich, and Wasatch counties did not have audited reports available.

Therefore, the prior year's county revenue was used.

47.09 89.58 81.30 116.59 89.71 81.14 68.09 67.89 62.51 32.60 51.34 42.44 38.96 39.23 25.91 34.03 46.68 24.19 19.85 26.50 29.36 20.44 15.39 22.21 17.05 20.38 17.73 16.90 12.55

10 3 4 1 2 5 6 7 8 16 9 12 14 13 19 15 11 20 24 18 17 22 28 21 26 23 25 27 29 34.03 43.37