AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Utah's homeowner property tax exemption currently allows a 45% reduction in the taxable value of a primary residence, while rental properties occupied by tenants receive a lower 40% exemption with some exceptions for low-income housing; an earlier version of this bill would have cut that rental exemption further, but the current substitute instead sets a single flat 45% exemption for all qualifying residential property, whether owner-occupied or rented, while also clarifying that an owner with multiple homes in Utah can claim exemptions on properties rented to tenants and requiring counties to report business entities that receive the exemption to a statewide appraisal database so that people claiming it in more than one county can be identified. Separately, the bill would lower the maximum reserve funds cities can hold in their general funds from a flat 35% cap to tiered caps of 25% to 30% of revenue depending on city size, and would cap county reserve funds at 100% of a county's prior year budgeted property tax revenue instead of the current formula based on population and revenue; starting in fiscal year 2032, any city reserves held above the new cap would be subtracted from a city's budgeted property tax revenue when calculating its property tax rate. Finally, the bill would change how "new growth" is calculated for setting property tax rates by excluding certain building renovations that do not add new floor space from local new-growth calculations and excluding increases in the value of business equipment from new-growth calculations within redevelopment project areas.