Weber County Hive · Tips & Comments

Tips and comments we checked

Readers send us tips, and people post claims in public comments. Here is what came in, what we checked it against, and what held up. Tipsters' names are never published.

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The log

Topic
Result

Oct. 8, 2026 · Public post

"Democrats hate Amendment B because initiatives are their route to raise taxes."

Partly verifiedElections & ballot measures
  • Republicans voted against B too: 2 senators and 4 representatives (Ballotpedia).
  • The 2018 school-tax initiative was funded by Utah business leaders (disclosures.utah.gov).
See the full answer →
Oct. 8, 2026 · Public comments (several threads)

"No citizen vote ever needs a supermajority" and "Salt Lake County alone can pass an initiative."

Not found in recordsElections & ballot measures
  • Arizona (2022) and Florida (2006) both use 60% voter thresholds.
  • Salt Lake County is about 34.5% of Utah; a county signature rule was struck down in 2002.
See the full answer →
Oct. 8, 2026 · Public comments

"The Legislature's bar is higher: an absolute majority of all members."

VerifiedElections & ballot measures
  • Right (Art. VI, Sec. 22). Statewide initiatives only run in even-year November elections, and the governor can't veto them.
See the full answer →
Oct. 8, 2026 · Public comment

"They restructured the judiciary over the chief justice's objection, and the district rule sank the Prop 4 repeal."

Partly verifiedElections & ballot measures
  • S.B. 134 (Jan. 2026) confirmed, with objections from the chief justice and the State Bar.
  • The rule is 26 of 29 Senate districts, not counties.
See the full answer →
Oct. 8, 2026 · Question from the thread

"Did Prop 2 or Prop 3 raise taxes, and what did the Legislature change?"

VerifiedElections & ballot measures
  • Prop 2: no tax; medical cannabis is tax-exempt. Prop 3: 0.15% sales tax, kept in full when coverage was cut.
See what voters passed vs. what changed →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Follow-up question

"How many tax increases has the Legislature passed?"

At least 9 since 2015Elections & ballot measures
  • No official total exists. From le.utah.gov: 7 bills raised a rate or created a tax, and 2 created new taxing powers (2015–2026).
  • The same Legislature cut the income tax each year from 2022 to 2026.
See the full answer →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public comment (question)

"Who is passing all these voter passed tax initiatives??"

Rare, per the recordElections & ballot measures
  • Most recent: Prop 3 (2018), 0.15% sales tax, about 53%. It would have failed under 60%.
  • No citizen initiative has qualified for the statewide ballot since 2018 (Ballotpedia).
See the full answer →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public comment (question)

"If this amendment doesn't pass by 60%, you'll repeal it, right? 50% + 1 applies here too?"

Yes, 50% + 1 applies to BElections & ballot measures
  • Amendments pass with a simple majority of voters (Utah Const. Art. XXIII, Sec. 1).
  • Repealing B would need two-thirds of the Legislature first; citizens can't put amendments on the ballot.
See the full answer →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public comment

"A tax increase is a tax increase… I would also vote yes on requiring the same for legislators."

Right on the recordElections & ballot measures
  • B's 60% rule applies to a tax increase in an initiative whoever pays it, businesses included.
  • Legislators pass taxes by a majority of members elected (Art. VI, Sec. 22); no 60% rule for them is on the ballot.
See the full answer →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public comment (question)

"If the Legislature raised the food tax, couldn't we just repeal it with an initiative that only needs 50%? What am I missing?"

Mostly rightElections & ballot measures
  • Right: lawmakers raise taxes by a majority either way, and an initiative that only cuts a tax would still need a simple majority under Amendment B.
  • Correction: a veto override takes two-thirds, not 60%. The 2019 food tax was stopped by a referendum, which B doesn't change.
See "initiative vs. referendum" →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public comment on a Hive graphic

"YES on B should say 'tax increase,' not 'tax change.' NO on B should say the Legislature can only amend initiatives that do not alter or reform government."

Partly verified · we corrected our graphicElections & ballot measures
  • Right: "tax change" was too broad, since plain tax cuts still need a simple majority. The graphic now says "tax increase, as S.J.R. 2 defines it."
  • Partly right: the Utah Supreme Court (July 11, 2024) said the Legislature can still amend a government-reform initiative if the change doesn't impair the reform, and a change that impairs it must be narrowly tailored to a compelling government interest. The ruling doesn't limit amending other initiatives. Our NO column now names that limit.
See the corrected YES / NO →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Private message

"The PAC backing Amendment B is chaired by the amendment's own sponsor."

VerifiedCampaign money & PACsElections & ballot measures
  • Checked: Axios (Oct. 7, 2026) and the PAC's Statement of Organization on disclosures.utah.gov.
  • Result: Taxpayer Shield PAC (created Dec. 1, 2025) lists Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, S.J.R. 2's primary sponsor, as Chairman. Axios names it as backing Amendment B. Its first report shows no Amendment B spending yet.
See it on the amendments page →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Private message

"This is the master data center plan for Utah, and they lure data centers with cheap labor."

Partly verifiedData centers & energyBoards & unelected power
  • Checked: EDCUtah's data center profile (FY 23-24), Site Ready Utah's site list, EDCUtah's investor page, a state funding request and a county assignment list.
  • Confirmed: the brochure says "Utah offers lower costs for labor, construction, land, permits…" and prints a Utah-vs-national wage table. EDCUtah certifies and markets 14 large sites; several sit in the same areas as data center and tax increment projects.
  • Not confirmed: it is a sales brochure from a private business group, not a government plan.
See the EDCUtah case file →
Oct. 7, 2026 · Public Facebook post (B.W.)

"Voters passed Props 2, 3 and 4 in 2018, the Legislature changed all three, then came Amendment D, and now Amendment B."

Partly verifiedElections & ballot measures
  • Confirmed: Prop 2 replaced by H.B. 3001 (Dec. 2018); Prop 3 changed by S.B. 96 (Feb. 2019); Prop 4 replaced by S.B. 200; 2024 Amendment D voided by the Utah Supreme Court.
  • Not confirmed: the post's mention of a project near Price "involving hundreds of small nuclear reactors."
See the timeline →
Oct. 2026 · Public Facebook comments

23 public comments about Amendments A and B, each checked against the record

Mixed resultsElections & ballot measures
  • Result: each comment is shown with initials and marked myth, fact, partly true, or open, with the record named next to it.
See the comments and responses →
Sept. 27, 2026 · Shared public post

"Carbon County is using NDAs and pushing farm families off land and water for data centers and a nuclear site."

Partly verifiedData centers & energyLand & water
  • Confirmed: Trust Lands posted a 640-acre parcel near Wellington for bids (July 8, 2026) and listed a lease with Valar Atomics on its Aug. 20 agenda. Carbon County's own website says the commission signs NDAs with prospective companies.
  • Not found in public records: the claims about a named farm family, an eminent domain threat, and an ended grazing lease. They stay out until a record backs them.
Aug. 2026 · Public Facebook comment

"A county commissioner personally owns over a thousand acres where the West Weber inland port is going."

Partly verifiedTax tools (PID, TIF, CRA, UIPA, MIDA)Land & water
  • Checked: Weber County assessor owner searches, state business filings, and UIPA's West Weber project area plan.
  • Result: the large landholding traced to PCC Land LLC (Gardner and Stephens network), not to the commissioner personally. The plan confirms the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation's history in the area. A claim about burial grounds was not confirmed in any record.
Aug. 2026 · Neighborhood Facebook post

"Eagle Mountain is raising our property tax while giving data centers huge tax breaks."

Partly verifiedTax tools (PID, TIF, CRA, UIPA, MIDA)Data centers & energy
  • Confirmed: a 220.88% increase was proposed and the council approved 183% at the August 2026 Truth in Taxation hearing. Meta's 2018 tax incentive (about $150 million) is documented.
  • Corrected: the post's "$77 million in 2021" is real but belongs to the Sweetwater CRA #2 project area, not a Meta-only deal. No public dollar figure was found for QTS.
Related: the Tyson / Pole Canyon case →

Older tips are being added. Last updated Oct. 7, 2026.