Millcreek small-business owner Andrei Tarassov wants his neighbors to vote no on Amendment B, the proposed change to Utah's Constitution on the Nov. 3 ballot.
In a letter published Oct. 18 in the Deseret News, Tarassov argued the measure creates a double standard. Amendment B would require 60% voter approval for citizen-initiated ballot measures that create or increase taxes. The Legislature's own tax decisions would still need only a simple majority.
"That concern does not justify giving legislators greater lawmaking power than the people they represent," Tarassov wrote.
The amendment, introduced by state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, in January 2025, would raise the threshold for citizen-initiated measures that impose a new tax, expand an existing tax or increase a tax rate. It would also cover property-tax measures that slow a rate decrease. All other ballot initiatives would still pass with a simple majority.
Fillmore and state Rep. Jason Kyle, R-Huntsville, the House sponsor, have argued the change protects taxpayers. In a Sept. 28 prepared statement first reported by Utah News Dispatch, the two lawmakers said Amendment B "protects the initiative process while recognizing a simple principle: if you want to raise your neighbors' taxes, you should have broad support from your neighbors."
Opponents see it differently. Elizabeth Rasmussen, executive director of Utahns Protecting Our Constitution, said in that same Sept. 28 campaign launch that the amendment makes a permanent, unnecessary change to the Constitution by taking power from citizens and giving politicians more control over the rules.
Tarassov's letter echoed that argument with a local twist. He wrote that citizen initiatives serve as a check when elected officials refuse to act, and that requiring a higher bar for voters than for legislators weakens that tool.
The stakes are not hypothetical. In 2018, Utah's Medicaid expansion initiative passed with 53.3% of the vote, and a medical marijuana initiative passed with 52.7%, according to the Deseret News. Both included tax increases. Under Amendment B's 60% threshold, neither would have passed.
A Noble Predictive Insights poll conducted Sept. 8 to Sept. 12 of 602 registered voters found 50% supported Amendment B, 21% opposed it and 23% were unsure. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, as reported by ABC4.
The opposition campaign, run by Better Boundaries through the Utahns Protecting Our Constitution political issues committee, had raised about $593,000 as of late September, according to Utah News Dispatch.
Ballots began arriving in mailboxes Oct. 13. Voters have until 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 to return them to a county drop box or vote in person.
