Summit County Assessor Stephanie Poll said both resort areas’ property values went up last year following discussions around redeveloping their respective parking lots.
Her office noticed the resorts had more allowable density than previously known.
According to Poll, Summit County’s portion of Deer Valley is valued at $321,800,000 and Park City Mountain, including Canyons Village, is $662,200,000. Her office contracted with an outside agency specializing in ski resort appraisal to generate the values.
She declined to release either resort’s requested valuations at this time. However, she said the resorts’ requested adjustments were “significant.”
Both are challenging the assessed values of some land parcels, not the total valuation of their resorts.
Both resorts also appealed their valuations through tax representatives. Poll said tax reps often approach large companies and offer to fight for lower taxes, then take a commission from the savings.
For Summit County’s tax purposes, Deer Valley has 61 land parcels. The resort is appealing 10.
Park City Mountain comprises 171 parcels, according to the assessor’s office.
A tax rep appealed 151 parcels, but only 127 of those are part of the larger 171. The 24 other parcels are being handled separately.
Deer Valley’s hearing was June 20 followed by Park City Mountain June 27.
At the private hearings, third-party officers determine the resorts’ full market values and then will distribute that number across the parcels appealed, Poll said.
The officers’ decisions are always reviewed and accepted publicly through the Summit County Council. The hearing officers’ decisions will be made public at a future council meeting yet to be scheduled.
If either side doesn’t see the result they want, they could elevate it to the state level.
“We fully anticipate this appeal will be moved forward to the State Tax Commission or further,” Poll said in an email.
Deer Valley Resort declined to comment on its appeal, and Park City Mountain could not comment in time for this report.
