Richardson said he thinks the vast majority of homeowners who are late make innocent mistakes or simply forget, and raising penalties or interest could hurt them.

The Morning News found at least 12 public officials who were late with taxes, and a look at their excuses likely is a mirror of what happened to most other delinquents.

Only two of the 12 acknowledge paying late on purpose.

Salt Lake County Councilman Marv Hendrickson said he deliberately missed the deadline because of a fence-line dispute with a neighbor on a sliver of land that he owned, and he did not want to pay the $471 tax bill owed on it until the matter was resolved. He later gave the land in dispute to the neighbor, so it is no longer in his name.

Somewhat similarly, West Bountiful Councilman Jeff Tingey said a family dispute over a vacant piece of land in his name stalled the on-time payment of $730, which has since been paid.

Other public officials said they meant to pay on time, but problems arose.

Utah County records showed Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert was late on $2,107 taxes on his home. His spokesman, Joe Demma, said Herbert's wife sent in the payment on time and has a carbon copy of the check she wrote to help show that.

"We don't know if it was lost in the mail or at the county," Demma said. "She went ahead and paid it (again) and the penalty, rather than appealing."

Similarly, West Jordan City Councilman Kim Rolfe said he thought he had paid his taxes fully and on time, but county records showed him still owing $83. He said he was researching to see what the problem is.

State Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland said his mortgage company had always handled paying taxes on a condominium in the past. He recently refinanced and said he was unaware that the mortgage company was no longer putting money into an escrow account to pay it. He said he has since paid the $921 owed.

Provo City Councilman Steve Turley said he has dozens of properties and thought he methodically went through the list and paid taxes on time for all of them. He acknowledges that he missed one, however, and paid the $2,291 due on it late.

"The tax notice was either not mailed to me, or I just missed that one," he said.

South Weber City Councilman Michael Poff and Alpine City Councilman Kent Hastings both said they became busy and simply forgot to send in payments on time. Both have since paid the delinquent taxes.

Draper City Councilman Bill Colbert had one of the more interesting excuses. A boundary change moved his home from Salt Lake County into Utah County. He said the process led to his mortgage company not receiving his tax notice on time, and the payment was made later.

Centerville City Council member Sherri Lindstrom said a parcel of property that she and her husband owned was divided. The wrong mailing address was put on a newly created parcel, which she said prevented her mortgage company from paying the taxes on time.

Saratoga Springs City Councilman J. Scott Kahn and Cedar Hills City Councilman James D. Perry both said they had bought property after the Nov. 30 tax payment deadline, and ended up on delinquent lists because previous owners or settlement proceedings had not paid the taxes on time.

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E-mail: lee@desnews.com; ldethman@desnews.com