Lawmaker looks to stop abuse of tax system

Developers wanting to skip tax payments as a way of securing a low-interest loan may have to look for their financing elsewhere.

Rep. Jim Ferrin, R-Orem, opened a bill file Wednesday to end the practice of skipping property tax payments on land that is planned for development, primarily because the late penalties are at a very low interest. Instead, the bill would institute a high interest penalty of 18 percent for any property tax payment more than six months late.

"It's an abuse of the system to use late tax penalties as low interest penalties," Ferrin said. "If you can't afford to pay the taxes on the land you want to develop, you shouldn't be developing."

Ferrin had to ask for the permission of the House to open the bill file, since the official deadline for any new bill was last Thursday. However, he said he was unaware of the problem until Sunday, when the Deseret Morning News ran a story about the problem.