Jeffrey Pierce lives in Old Town, where he also rents out historic homes. This year, he’s running for Utah House District 59, covering Park City and Wasatch County.
In an interview with KPCW, he said he’s motivated by tax issues and how they impact affordability.
“Imagine you have a middle class family that's struggling to pay the bills, and their property tax bill goes up by, you know, a thousand percent in a matter of 10 years. There's nothing that's preventing these people from doing it,” Pierce said.
Pierce said the current income tax is regressive, since a flat rate hits lower income earners harder. He said he favors zero income tax rather than progressive rates.
Pierce is a Republican who moved to Park City in 2020. He previously lived in New York and California.
“Ironically, I think [Utah lawmakers] model the worst parts of California policy,” he said. “Then there's a good one, like the property tax increases that are capped at 3% a year [in California]. Why isn't that mirrored?”
It is Pierce's first time campaigning for elected office. He faces Mark Allen and Luke Searle for the GOP nomination in House District 59.
His background is in finance. Pierce was also one of the 10 applicants for the Park City Council seat that went to Prospector resident Molly Miller, and he applied for the city planning commission the year before that.
In his city council interview, he described himself as an “activist investor” while working on Wall Street, and he said there’s a lot of value to be unlocked in Park City.
He also told the council he would like local leaders to lobby the Legislature for help solving transportation issues.
“There's no traffic in Zermatt. There's no cars in Zermatt at all. How did they do it?” Pierce said. “Well, they have a local bus, that’s the only thing on the roads, and they also have light rail.”
A primary election for House District 59, if needed, will be June 23. The general election is Nov. 3.
