FARMINGTON — Business and city leaders in Davis, Weber and Box Elder counties began a campaign Tuesday to urge residents to approve a tax hike this November for new roads and mass-transit projects.

The quarter-cent sales-tax hike is slated to appear on ballots in the three counties this November and will be labeled Opinion Question One. If approved, the increase will cost the average family about $104 per year, said Steve Handy, spokesman for the Northern Utah Transportation Alliance, which is running the promotional campaign.

"This is the biggest 'no brainer' in the history of the Earth," said Handy during a kickoff event Tuesday here in Farmington.

Business leaders and elected officials believe that by raising taxes for transportation, residents will see improved economic development opportunities in their counties, as well as traffic-congestion relief.

In Box Elder County, most of the increase is slated to go toward a study of extending commuter rail north from Weber County into Brigham City. Davis and Weber counties have a combined list of about 35 projects that could be funded, but residents may not know until after the election which specific projects will receive money.

The projects range from a bus rapid-transit line in south Davis County to the option of buying land for a future northern extension of the Legacy Parkway. By law, Davis and Weber counties can't decide which projects will receive funding until the counties obtain legislative approval.

That's because the two counties have already approved two quarter-cent sales-tax hikes for transportation. Last year, state lawmakers gave all Utah counties the authority to approve a third quarter-cent sales-tax hike for transportation, but specific projects couldn't be selected without legislative approval.

Brigham City has only approved one sales-tax increase and wants voters to approve the second. Davis and Weber counties aren't likely to get legislative approval on a specific list until after the election, said Handy.

He admits that if residents don't know a lot of specifics, getting approval for the tax increase could be a problem. Residents also may be reluctant to approve a sales-tax increase when they just experienced property-tax increases as result of high home valuations.

Ron Mortensen, co-founder of the Davis County tax watchdog group CitizensforTaxFairness.org, said his group will oppose the measure. Some mayors in southern Davis County also have not endorsed the idea because they have said they are unsure how it will benefit their residents.

Many of the roads that will be funded by the increase are in northern Davis County.

"Our feeling is that there is plenty of money out there, and with all of the taxes we've had on us — coupled with the higher valuations — this isn't the proper time to be raising taxes," Mortensen said.

Over the next few weeks, supporters plan to raise about $300,000 to purchase lawn signs and distribute mailers promoting the tax hike. Mortensen said his group would wait until the weeks closer to the election to mount an opposition campaign, and plans to find other organizations that may be opposed.

For more information about Opinion Question One, log on to nutrans.com.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com