The Wasatch County Council will meet for a work meeting Wednesday. At the request of the council, County Assessor Todd Griffin will give a progress update as the May deadline to submit this year’s property valuations approaches.
In recent months, Griffin has described the task of updating property values as “challenging,” with over 3,000 local properties overdue for appraisals.
Wasatch County has experienced a hot housing market over the last several years, and properties that haven’t been assessed in five or more years may be significantly undervalued. That creates inequities in what taxpayers owe.
Residents who spoke at the March meeting said because some properties are outdated while others are up to date, some owners are paying property taxes disproportionate to their home values. They lamented that it’s been a problem for years.
Councilors acknowledged the issue is of significant concern last month and thanked Griffin for his work.
Although appraising homes individually has been the primary method used in the past, the county is looking at more efficient methods to value properties. County Manager Dustin Grabau says to expect the council to discuss the strategy of assessing the values of properties in bulk instead of individually Wednesday.
“Even since last year, that's been on the radar: moving towards that mass-appraisal process,” Grabau says. “I think the sense of urgency about how quickly we get results from that process has increased. And I think with the tax commission's involvement, we're getting there a lot faster. I think we'll get a lot better result this year because the tax commission’s so heavily engaged in it.”
Grabau says previous assessors in Wasatch County have struggled to shift to a mass-appraisal process. Griffin is in his second year in the role after taking over in January of 2021.
Grabau says the county might file for an extension to the May 22 deadline to submit property valuations.
Once the state tax commission receives data from the Wasatch County Assessor and others across the state, the commission will determine property owners’ taxes ahead of a September deadline for taxpayers to appeal.
Wednesday's meeting takes place at 4 p.m. at the Wasatch County Administration Building at 25 North Main Street in Heber City. To participate via Zoom, visit wasatch.utah.gov.
