Just get it done
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t's been two and a half months since property owners in the Top of Utah started receiving their property valuations and associated tax notices. And for two and a half months the yelping has yet to subside: Homeowners are angry, and they expect the Legislature to fix a system that's clearly not working.
We all know who's driving the property tax reform movement, in large part: aggrieved homeowners in the Ogden Valley and south Davis County. Circumstances have conspired to smack them with sudden, overwhelming increases in property values and tax obligations. State law requires county assessors to pay a visit to a home and assess its value at least once every five years. The prices of homes in the desirable neighborhoods in the greater Huntsville and Bountiful areas have been on a rocket sled upward for the past couple of years -- at least -- and so when they were reassessed this year the valuations and connected tax bills spiked; reports of 300 percent increases were not unusual.
But while those homeowners are most agitated this year, people throughout the Top of Utah understand that their turn will come soon enough -- as assessors make visits to their neighborhoods, which haven't been reassessed in at least five years, and sometimes more. If state lawmakers think the hullabaloo is loud right now, if they don't start reforming the system during the 2008 session, they may not be on the receiving end of the even noisier grievances next year. Why? Because they'll never win re-election in November 2008.
To hear legislators tell the story, they're already working feverishly on various notions for reform. Our reporter Loretta Park's story on the subject last week noted that 16 bills are being sponsored to address various aspects of the issue. Up for discussion so far:
* Averaging a home's assessed value over five years.
* Deferring portions of the tax bill for senior citizens age 65 or older until that home is sold.
* Hiking the income level needed to qualify for the so-called "circuit-breaker" tax abatement for lower-income homeowners.
* Make Utahns disclose, in full, how much their property sells for each time it changes hands. (To our way of thinking, it's amazing that isn't already the case, since it would make assessments so much easier and remove much guesswork for assessors.)
* And, probably one that's destined to be quite controversial: a proposal to reduce school districts' portion of the property tax bill -- which accounts for the majority in each county -- and raising the sales tax to fund schools.
About that last one: It may or may not be a workable idea, but it's worth some serious discussion since it would obtain school funding resources from people who rent, and be based on the amount of spending a person does. In other words, it may be more closely connected to a person's ability to pay taxes, and reduce the burden on fixed-income homeowners like those in the Ogden Valley and south Davis who wonder how they'll pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more in property taxes over the coming year.
We'll find out how who the big brains at the Capitol are in January, when the Legislature begins its next regular session. The elected leaders who can untie this knot successfully will cement their legacies and improve their positions for the future. It'll be the real deal. Bet on it.
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