Tax Angst
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Friday, August 10, 2007 | 
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
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By Loretta Park
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
FARMINGTON -- One Davis County resident after another blasted commissioners for increased property values and taxes at a public hearing Thursday at Farmington Junior High School.
More than 300 individuals braved the non-air-conditioned multipurpose room in order to vent their frustrations and concerns for more than three hours to the commission about the increases. At times tempers were short during the meeting.
When it was all said and done, the Davis County Commission voted to wait two more weeks before making a final decision.
Many stood up and left after about two hours. One man said it was because they thought the commissioners were not listening.
County staff at a table helped a number of residents fill out appeal forms concerning their property evaluations during the meeting.
In December, the county commission passed the $7 million tax increase for its 2007 budget of $87 million. The county is required by law to have a second truth-in-taxation hearing after property tax notices are sent out. The property notices were sent out the last week in July.
The county's portion of the property tax was an increase of $55 a year on a $210,000 home. Of that, $35 goes to jail operation and maintenance, $10 to flood prevention and $10 to senior services.
Some of those in attendance said commissioners, especially Commissioner Alan Hansen, will answer to the tax increases when election time arrives. Hansen is the only commissioner who was serving on the commission when the tax increase was passed.
County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings said commissioners cannot raise the tax rate at Thursday's meeting, but they could decrease it.
Some who spoke asked the commission if the budget was set in stone and commissioners said no.
Commissioner Louenda Downs said she has been in office since January and "was blindsided by the tax increases."
Downs said commissioners have been asking questions to see what they can legally do before making any decisions.
One man shouted out that commissioners should drop their yearly wages from $100,000 each to $50,000 each.
The majority of those in attendance were from Bountiful, including Councilman Fred Moss and City Manager Tom Hardy. Moss said the county's method of appraising homes in Bountiful was wrong because most of Bountiful's homes values jumped 40 percent, while the rest of the county averaged 20 percent.
Hardy said city officials offered two suggestions to the county to lower taxes. The first is to roll back the home values to what they were last year. The second is to increase other home values in other cities by the same amount, so the tax rate will go down.
Lane Stephens, of Kaysville, said his two-acre piece that is landlocked and cannot be developed, jumped in value from $50,000 to $300,000. He recently visited the county assessor's office and was told to sell the land. Beverly Hurd, who is retired, moved from Bountiful to Syracuse four years ago in order to economize.
"This is the beginning of being taxed right out of my home," Hurd said to applause. "This is criminal to do this."
"We, who are on a fixed income, have to economize," Hurd said.
She planned to spend a few hundred dollars to buy a camera, but then got the tax notice "and you know where the camera went, right down the drain." Hurd said.
The tax increase means the difference between eating and not eating, said Kay Hinckley, of Fruit Heights.
"This is real money to me," Hinckley said. "This is milk. This is bread."
Gordon Tyler pointed to the audience and said, "They are senior citizens. You need to learn how we live."
He is concerned that if property taxes continue to increase the day will come when he and his wife will be forced out their home.
Sherry Brophy, of Layton, said that the county has had a 238 percent increase in its budget the past few years.
"Anyone in the audience who got a 238 percent increase, please stand," Brophy said. No one did.
If county officials were using the additional money they received in more sales tax and in growth, they would not need a tax increase, she said.
Brophy said her children who live in several Davis County cities also saw their homes values increase, along with their property taxes.
"Yes, there are a lot of senior citizens here," Brophy said. "Most of the young people are either working overtime or a second job to pay taxes."
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