The claim

The tax is really about the rodeo grounds

“The public safety reason was misleading — the tax increase is really to cover up his misdeeds on the rodeo grounds and build their new kingdom.”

“Misdeeds” refers to allegations made in a lawsuit filed against the city in March 2026. The city has formally denied them and no court has ruled on them. The filing and the city's denial are both cited below. Seen: Eagle Mountain City Tax Referendum Facebook group, August 2026.

Our finding Misleading

Built on a real figure, used to say something the figure does not support.

There is a new $1 million rodeo-grounds line in the budget, so the question is a fair one to ask. The increase cannot be what pays for it: at the rate in force the whole city levy falls about $4.6 million short of the city's own public safety budget.

The numbers

Whole city levy at 0.000900derived here from the certified rate$5,188,077

Budgeted public safetySheriff contract plus the restricted line$9,798,139

Gapthe levy does not cover the contract−$4,610,062

Relocate Rodeo GroundsCapital Projects General Fund, acct 47-81-41000-7078$1,000,000

What’s true

The budget line is real, and it is new. The FY2026–27 capital schedule carries “Relocate Rodeo Grounds” at $1,000,000 in the Capital Projects General Fund, account 47-81-41000-7078. The year before, the only rodeo line was $80,000 of arena work. A $500,000 City Hall line sits in the same fund. Anyone reading the capital sheet and the tax notice on the same evening would reasonably ask what the money is for.

Where it goes wrong

The increase cannot be the source. Property tax appears in this budget as its own revenue line and, dollar for dollar, as a restricted expense inside Public Safety: the Sheriff contract line was cut to exactly the city's existing property tax collections and the balance moved to that restricted line. At the adopted 0.000900 the whole city levy raises about $5,188,077 against $9,798,139 of budgeted public safety. That is a shortfall of roughly $4.6 million, not a surplus to divert. Capital projects sit in a different fund with different sources.

More detail

The capital projects fund is shrinking, not growing: $16,954,637 in FY2026–27 against $19,805,942 the year before, down $2,851,305.

The rodeo relocation is fifteenth on the capital list, below $3,360,000 for a Pony Express trailhead, $2,790,000 for Campus Drive, $2,500,000 for land acquisition and $2,000,000 for Airport Road.

Where this comes from

Every finding here is drawn from an open-meeting recording or a published document. Check it yourself.

The adopted FY2026–27 budget, August 21, 2026The property tax increase appears as its own revenue line and, for the identical amount, as a restricted expense inside Public Safety. “Relocate Rodeo Grounds” appears separately in the Capital Projects General Fund at $1,000,000.Eagle Mountain City line items, FY2026–27 (ClearGov)

The repeal and re-adoptionThe council repealed the 0.001500 approved on August 6 and adopted 0.000900 in its place, on the same night it adopted the budget.The meeting, August 18, 2026 Read the transcript

KSL, reporting the complaint and the city's response, March 14, 2026Monte Vista Ranch and Eagle Mountain Properties, entities of the family that founded the city, sued Eagle Mountain over 56.5 acres of rodeo grounds conveyed to the city by special warranty deed in January 2002, which the complaint says was restricted to public recreation and ancillary municipal use. The complaint alleges a lease over the parcel confers a private benefit on entities connected to the mayor. The city said it “formally denies the allegations and claims set forth in the complaint” and would address the matter through legal channels. This site takes no position on who is right; it is reported here only because the allegation is what the claim above is referring to.Eagle Mountain's founding family sues the city over land disputes — KSL, 14 March 2026

More checks on property tax

See all 21 fact checks →

Checked August 21, 2026. Nothing goes on the fact-check list unless an open-meeting recording or a published document can settle it: the rules. Spot a mistake? civicrollcall@gmail.com