Opinion ID: 2755001
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: a tax levy is legislative

Text: ¶15 In this case, Petitioners seek to refer the Resolution to the voters of the District while the City argues that the Resolution is not referable because it does not represent an exercise of legislative power. The Resolution was “passed and adopted by the City Council of Draper City, acting as the Board of Directors of the Traverse Ridge Special Service District.”22 The Resolution “establishe[s]” the District’s 2014 property tax rate. In short, the Resolution levies a tax upon the property owners in the District. And levying a tax is a quintessential expression of legislative power. ¶16 First, this levied tax is generally applicable. The tax rate established for the District applies to all property located in the District’s geographical boundaries. The District contains several thousand acres, much more than the one-hundred-acre parcel effected in Mouty.23 Further, the tax applies to all who own property in the District at the time the tax is due, regardless of whether they owned such property at the time the tax was enacted. ¶17 Second, deciding whether to levy the tax required weighing broad and competing policy concerns. The members of the City Council of Draper City were required to weigh the need for and 21 Id. ¶ 31. 22 At oral argument some members of this court expressed concern about whether the members of the Draper City Council, acting as the Board of Directors of the Traverse Ridge Special Service District, properly enacted the Resolution. We do not address this issue because neither party contends that the City Council lacked authority to pass the Resolution and levy the tax. Moreover, the propriety of a legislative action does not determine its referablity. To hold otherwise would prevent the people from using their legislative power to overturn—or ratify—ultra vires legislative action. 23 Mouty v. Sandy City Recorder, 2005 UT 41, ¶¶ 2–6, 28, 122 P.3d 521. 6 Cite as: 2014 UT 54 Opinion of the Court benefit of the services to be provided to the property owners in the District against the tax burden to be imposed. It also required that the council anticipate the financial needs of the District in the coming year and consider whether the District should accrue reserves for future projects. Finally, they had to consider the possible implications of lowering the tax when future needs might require a subsequent tax increase.24 In short, the selection of the tax rate represents a conscious policy choice adopted after weighing the benefits and burdens of various tax rates. ¶18 Our conclusion that levying a tax is an exercise of legislative power is consistent with the fact that levying taxes is a power given to the Legislature by the Utah Constitution.25 And it is a power the Legislature has traditionally exercised.26 We hold, therefore, that levying a tax is a legislative action that is properly referable to the voters.