Update, March 28: Gov. Spencer Cox has vetoed SB197. In his veto letter on his decision, the governor pointed to the administrative concerns from county governments and the worries about the impact on Utah's seniors. "I agree with both of those concerns," he wrote. Rather than piecemeal reforms, the governor said the intentions of SB197 would best be served in a comprehensive reform — "not only on property tax, but also the future of our income tax rate and our state sales tax." Our original story continues below.
Low-income senior homeowners in Utah could see their property taxes go up under a bill that is awaiting a signature from Gov. Spencer Cox. SB197 would phase out the circuit breaker program while freezing the income limit for existing homeowners but raising it for renters.
The program as it stands now reduces how much low-income seniors pay in property taxes and offers credits to qualifying renters.
Burt Harvey, tax administration manager with the Utah County Auditor’s Office, said the program is appropriately named after a switch designed to prevent an overload.
“The circuit breaker’s there to provide some relief, either a small amount or a larger amount, in order to help seniors not get priced out of their home as values rise and taxes rise and their income stays the same.”
Depending on their income, homeowners would receive between $197 and $1,259, while the renters’ credit ranges from $250 to $2,000.
Harvey said the change would cost senior homeowners.
For one thing, the program’s income limits would no longer increase with inflation. The circuit breaker for homeowners would only be open to households making up to $40,840, despite the 2025 level being set at $42,623. This means seniors could lose access to the program when their Social Security benefits increase with cost of living adjustments.
The bill would also phase out county-level tax abatement for low-income seniors or those with disabilities by restricting eligibility to people who’ve used the program within the previous two years.
“Anyone who, say, ran into hardship starting in 2026 who wasn't already on the program would not have access to circuit breaker,” said Joe Hirabayashi, advocacy director for AARP Utah.
Another change is that taxpayers would not be able to participate in multiple relief programs.
If the bill goes into law, Harvey said he recently spoke with a Utahn who would immediately end up paying $700 more in taxes this year than last year. “You can either get the low-income or indigent abatement, or you can get the circuit breaker,” he noted — not both.
Nixing the circuit breaker program altogether would save Utah taxpayers very little money, Harvey said. The bill’s fiscal note estimates it will increase revenue to the General Fund by $130,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $460,000 the following year.
“We can't solve our housing crisis by kicking seniors out of their home,” Harvey said.
Hirabayashi doesn’t think the changes will cost seniors their homes. While he said closing the circuit breaker program to new participants could be problematic, he expects other aspects of the bill to help. For example, the income limit to receive the renters’ credits will increase from $40,840 in 2024 to $46,000.
Another benefit, he said, is counties would no longer require homeowners with mortgages to provide written permission from their lenders to get a deferral. Hirabayashi said that change could convince more people to take advantage of it. In 2023, only two households qualified for property tax deferral for elderly homeowners ages 75 or older.
Other changes would limit the portion of the taxes a homeowner could defer and lower the age cutoff from 75 to 65 for elderly tax deferral. Under the current program, a homeowner can defer all of their taxes. If the changes take effect, they would have to pay 50% or 75% on time and defer the rest at 2% or 3% interest, depending on the type of deferral.
Whether this is a benefit or drawback, Hirabayashi said, depends on an individual’s circumstances. Still, he thinks the bill would help people stay in their homes.
“The safety net is not being removed, but it is being adjusted,” he said.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
