Tourism Taxes Amendments
HB 272 strengthens oversight of how counties spend tourism-related taxes (like transient room taxes and tourism facility taxes). It requires counties to submit detailed annual reports on tourism tax spending to the state auditor and legislative fiscal analysts, who must jointly review if funds comply with state rules. If reports are inadequate, the state auditor can block counties from accessing tourism revenue until compliance is proven. This directly affects counties collecting these taxes, ensuring they account for spending on tourism promotion, emergency services, and infrastructure tied to tourism.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Jan 20, 2026
Signed Mar 18, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Enrolled
·
4 edits
·
Mar 18, 2026
MODERATE
This bill updates Utah's tourism tax reporting rules by adding specific details on search and rescue costs, clarifying the state auditor's authority to audit county reports, and changing the enforcement process to require the state auditor to independently verify non-compliance before withholding funds.
Scope change
The bill expands the scope of required reporting to include detailed data on search and rescue efforts and expands the state auditor's authority to audit county expenditures and independently verify compliance before taking enforcement action.
REQUIREMENT
Added specific reporting requirements for search and rescue efforts, including effort counts, costs, recovery amounts, and visitor demographics.
Authorized the state auditor to perform audits of county expenditures to assist in analyzing compliance with tourism tax spending rules.
ENFORCEMENT
Changed the enforcement mechanism so the state auditor must make an independent finding and confirm non-compliance before prohibiting access to funds, rather than acting solely based on a consensus determination.
TECHNICAL
Corrected a grammatical error in the text regarding the consensus determination process.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 19, 2026 · House Feb 5, 2026
How they voted
26–0
Passed · 3 other
Total votes 29
Feb 19, 2026
D
Democratic6
100% Yea
N
Forward1
100% Yea
R
Republican22
86% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
38
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Mar 18, 2026
Signed into law
Governor Signed
executive
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
lower
Feb 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 5, 2026
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 3, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ placed on Consent Calendar [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Consent Calendar Recommendation [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
House/ to standing committee [House Transportation Committee]
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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