Eagle Mountain voted on Tuesday to ask the Utah Transit Authority to bring express bus service to Cedar Valley.

The vote is the first step in bringing $600,000 in federal grant money to Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs in an effort to ease swollen traffic, but Eagle Mountain fears that skyrocketing taxes in Saratoga Springs could nix the whole deal.

There is no bus service to either city now. Eager to expand into virgin territory, especially on Uncle Sam's dime, senior UTA officials were in Eagle Mountain on Tuesday to encourage the deal, which is far more complex than it first appears.

While divvying up federal grant money recently, representatives from local cities decided to give $200,000 a year for three years to Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs for express bus service direct to downtown Salt Lake City, but only if those cities would agree to join the transit tax district.

What is unclear is whether both cities must join. Joining would require residents to vote on a sales tax increase that would equal 25 cents for every $100 spent, said city staffers. The deal is especially a bargain for Eagle Mountain residents because the city has few shopping opportunities but pays this same tax when shopping in most nearby towns, said Mayor Heather Jackson.

"I have huge concerns about it passing in Saratoga Springs in light of the fact that their property taxes are going up significantly," said Eagle Mountain Mayor Heather Jackson to UTA officials. Saratoga Springs has proposed to increase property taxes more than 150 percent to stave off financial crisis. The city is expected to vote on the tax increase tonight.

Both Jackson and UTA officials said Saratoga Springs Mayor Tim Parker has told them he is interested in moving the process forward to get express bus service, but Jackson said Saratoga Springs residents might simply reject it in light of the proposed property tax hike there.

"We are kind of married to Saratoga Springs on this," said Councilman Nathan Ochsenhirt. "If they don't approve it, it kills the deal."

If Saratoga Springs residents do reject the sales tax increase -- and express bus service along with it-- it is unclear whether Eagle Mountain could use the $200,000-per-year funding alone.

Both Eagle Mountain and UTA said they would like to try, if necessary.

"It would be my desire that we go ahead and give them another chance the next year to hold a second election to get public approval for the project," said Hugh Johnson, regional general manger for UTA. "We recognized the timing is poor in that community because of the tax increase, but we also recognize the need [for express bus service] is critical."

To make the matter more difficult, the deadline to alert the state to the need for a sales tax proposition in Eagle Mountain's fall election is Friday, and it is unclear whether that deadline can be pushed back.

Should the cities approve the tax increase, express service would run from Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs to downtown Salt Lake City via Redwood Road and Bangerter Highway, eschewing completely other stops in Utah Valley or south Salt Lake Valley. There would be two departures in the morning, about an hour apart, and two arrivals in the evening, also about an hour apart.

The bus service would also one day connect Cedar Valley to bus and train service along the Wasatch Front with direct service to a Thanksgiving Point train station, UTA officials said.

UTA officials said 3,600 Utah County residents now ride express buses each day, taking many cars off the freeway.