Sales base can ease tax burden

The areas with the lowest property taxes in Salt Lake County this year are all in Murray or South Salt Lake. Murray Mayor Dan Snarr says the reason is no secret.

"As mayor, I tell people who really pays most of the bills in Murray — even though they don't always like to hear it. It is the businesses," he says.

Murray enjoys vast sales tax revenue from the car dealerships that line State Street and from the upscale Fashion Place Mall. With that, it need not charge its residents as much in property taxes to make ends meet. (Businesses also pay full property tax rates, while residences are discounted.) Industrial South Salt Lake enjoys similar benefits.

So in a way, sales taxes paid by visitors from "bedroom suburbs" who shop in those two cities help keep property taxes low there.

And lack of more businesses is among many reasons why some areas in bedroom suburbs such as Draper, Kearns, West Jordan, Cottonwood Heights and White City have the highest property taxes in the county.

The Deseret Morning News reviewed records along the Wasatch Front to reveal which areas have the lowest and highest taxes and the biggest tax cuts or hikes as residents receive tax notices this month. Today's story focuses on Salt Lake County.

A total of 48 local governments — the county, cities and special service districts — charge property taxes in Salt Lake County. Sixteen of them raised tax rates this year, 29 lowered them and three did not change rates.

Because of the overlapping boundaries of those many governments, Salt Lake County has created 361 separate taxing districts. Of them, 92 (one-quarter) enjoyed lower tax rates this year, and 269 (three-quarters) found them higher.

The lowest property taxes in Salt Lake County were in seven sister taxing districts in Murray that had the same rate, resulting in taxes of $1,303.72 on a $200,000 home.

That is $734.80 (or 56 percent) less per year than the tax district with the highest rates — on Traverse Ridge in Draper — where taxes are $2,038.52 on a $200,000 home.

The average rate in Salt Lake County brings $1,647 in tax on a $200,000 home, up 1.3 percent. That is the highest among the main Wasatch Front counties. The next highest average, in Weber County, is $185 a year less. The Davis County average is $282 less, and Utah County's is $290 less.

Property taxes within the same community can vary greatly because different areas often pay different taxes to different water, recreation and other special service districts.

For example, West Jordan has 32 taxing districts within its boundaries, and taxes can vary by up to $503 on a $200,000 home depending on where residents live. That is the greatest variance among city areas in the county.