Politicians -- do something!
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By Richard Evans
Guest commentary
My wife and I have lived in Eden for more than 30 years. We like it, and it is the lifestyle we want. When we moved here it was a quiet, farming community. The taxes were fair, and the services provided by Weber County were good.
Lots of other people have discovered what a nice place it is and have purchased property and built homes. This is growth, and it was bound to happen. The people who moved here are good people and make good neighbors.
When the Olympics came along, it also brought more growth. People who owned property found they could sell it for a lot of money; you can't blame them for that. They had their dream homes.
Many of these properties were developed into or sold as second homes or permanent residences with values Ogden Valley had never seen before.
By law, along comes Weber County Assessor Cheryl Madson and her team of assessors to reassess our properties. Existing homes that were not built as investments to be turned over every several years became subject to those higher property assessment values.
I think we need to change the property tax laws and make them similar to California's or Michigan's whereby our homes would be taxed on what we paid for them plus a small percent increase each year. When and if a home is resold, the county should change the property tax rate based on what the new owner paid for the house -- not on what the assessors think it should be.
It should be clear to our politicians after attending the Aug. 15 meeting that what they are doing to the people in Ogden Valley is drastically wrong and not fair!
I have talked with Commissioners Dearden and Bischoff about the matter, and it is the same old story: We sympathize with you and wish we could help, but the law is the law. They conveniently seem to forget that they have the power to set the mill levy associated with assessed value. Maybe they could try and change the law.
I tried to talk with Commissioner Zogmaister, but as of this writing, she has not found time to return my call.
Talking with our state legislator Sen. Allen Christensen was very enlightening. He told me the real estate lobbyists have so much money and power that if he does anything to reduce our property taxes he could lose his job.
It is comforting to know we have a puppet in the Legislature, and the real estate lobbyists are pulling the strings. Where is his obligation to serve the people?
At our last meeting, Donald Bell asked that our assessments be done over again in the proper order and with the correct assumptions. He reported there are inconsistencies in the methods the county assessor's office uses to determine a fair assessment on our properties. We expect our elected officials to be responsive and proactive in helping the citizens of Ogden Valley receive property tax relief, rather than hiding behind the law and ignoring the devastating effects of longtime and fixed-income residents being driven out of our homes.
Politicians, do something!
Evans lives in Eden.
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