Jones and his neighbors pay taxes to only three local governments: Wayne County, the Wayne County School District and the Wayne County Water Conservancy District. That is bare-bones government, and taxes reflect that. Jones adds that sales tax from tourists to sites such as Capitol Reef National Park helps keep property taxes low for residents.

Meanwhile, Crowther and her neighbors pay taxes to a whopping nine local governments: Salt Lake County (and its library district), Jordan School District, Draper city (plus its Traverse Ridge Special Service District), the South Salt Lake Valley Mosquito Abatement District, and three water districts.

For that, Crowther receives services that some rural areas may lack, including water and sewer (instead of wells and septic tanks), parks, libraries, zoos and museums. And they may receive higher levels of other services, such as fire protection, law enforcement, snow removal, health services/inspections and garbage collection.

"I've been pleased with some of what Draper city has offered. But they formed the separate Traverse Ridge Special Service District to charge us more for services up here (on the mountain). This year, they wanted to raise it another 25 percent for another snow removal vehicle and a salt dome for winter. We went down to a city meeting and got it stopped," Crowther said.

Something else that affects taxes for Suncrest residents is the Salt Lake-Utah county line that divides that subdivision. The Salt Lake County side is more expensive.

The portion of taxes just for Salt Lake County government is $295 on a $200,000 home, nearly double the $153 charged by Utah County government. Also, taxes for Jordan School District on the Salt Lake County side are $952 on a $200,000 home, compared to the $889 charged by Alpine School District on the Utah County side.

The market values of homes also affect taxes. For example, tax rates in Suncrest actually went down this year, but few residents probably noticed it. That's because the assessed value of their property increased. So higher property values multiplied by slightly lower tax rates brought an overall tax increase for most.

"And property values here (in Suncrest) have skyrocketed. We purchased a (property) lot . . . for $120,000. We've had offers for it of $250,000," Crowther said. "We know people who bought a lot for $93,000 and sold it for $194,000."

Tax areas

Because of crisscrossing boundaries by the more than 500 local governments in Utah, the state is divided into nearly 1,200 tax areas — each with varying overall property tax rates, with Suncrest at the highest end and Wayne County at the lowest.

Wayne County also managed to have five of the 10 cheapest tax areas statewide. At the other end of the spectrum, Salt Lake County has five of the 10 most expensive. (See chart.)