Taxes are fresh on the minds of property owners who just received notices of what they’ll owe for the year. Over the next few months, a series of Truth in Taxation hearings, appraisal appeals and the November election could impact taxpayer bills.
In recent years, tax notices have surprised some whose county-assessed home and land valuations were much higher than in the past. Some said they paid double or triple the amount of previous years.
County Manager Dustin Grabau says his office and the assessor’s have been trying to remedy this issue after the county got behind on assessments during years of fast population growth.
In Utah, taxing agencies collect a fixed amount of money each year, adjusted for growth. They change rates after counties report total property values to keep the revenue amount consistent year-over-year.
So, Grabau said, if one person’s assessed value increases, they pay more and the rest of the taxpayers pay a fraction less.
“While I fully understand and empathize with those people who are seeing dramatic value changes, this doesn't represent a windfall for any of those taxing entities," he said. "What it does do, is it shifts the burden from some property owners to others. So, those whose values increase the most, the burden does get shifted towards those values. But what I would argue is that we are making up for ground that we have been behind in valuations, and now that those values are more accurate, that burden is more at the level that it should be.”
This year, Wasatch County contracted a company to help assess more properties and update values at homes that were overdue and undervalued.
Grabau says sharp, year-over-year increases for people who were overdue are hard to avoid, and the goal is to smooth out the year-over-year updates this year and in the future.
“I think in an ideal world, every property every year would be at 100% of market value," he said. "Now there's some, you know, physical and practical limitations for why the county can't get to that level.”
He encouraged people to file appeals by Sept. 15 if they have concerns about their appraisals.
“You can go on to the Wasatch County website, that's wasatch.utah.gov, and go to the clerk-auditor section of the website and file an appeal to the Board of Equalization," he said. "The applicant will provide evidence on what their property value — maybe [what] they feel like it should be, any comparable properties, any mitigating circumstances, like for instance, maybe they had a fire in their home or they don't have a finished basement, and the county assessor assumed that they did. Those are the types of things that property owners should be aware of and should share that information.”
Taxing entities are required to collect fixed amounts of property tax revenue each year. If they want to collect more, they must first hold public hearings.
The Wasatch County School District is seeking an increase of about $14 million in general revenue and will hold a Truth in Taxation hearing. Heber City, Hideout, Interlaken, Wallsburg and the Central Utah Water Conservancy District will also propose increases and hold meetings. The specific proposals and dates for those meetings are below:
Wasatch County School District - Aug. 16, 6:30 p.m.
101 East 200 North, Heber City
Heber City - Aug. 15, 7 p.m.
75 North Main Street, Heber City
Hideout - Aug. 10, 6 p.m.
via Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/4356594739
Interlaken - Aug. 8, 6 p.m.
236 Luzern Road, Midway
Wallsburg - Aug. 17, 7 p.m.
70 West Main Canyon Road, Wallsburg
Central Utah Water Conservancy District - Aug. 21, 6:30 p.m.
1426 East 750 North, Orem
Lastly, voters on Nov. 21 will decide on a new sales tax to support firefighters and emergency management services. The county council approved the ballot measure last month and notified the state to place the 0.5% tax on the ballot.
Grabau says it’s a reaction to the growing population that needs more emergency services and estimates it will raise about $6 million a year.
“I think they're hoping to be able to cover some of the costs of the facilities that house ambulances and firefighter paramedics," he said. "They're hoping to be able to use it to purchase equipment. I think that there's also a hope that we will be able to build new fire stations, and that some of this funding will go to funding the EMS portion of those fire stations.”
Grabau’s full interview on the KPCW Local News Hour Tuesday is available here.
