'02 tax hike plan still haunts Davis politics

During the past four years, a ghost has been haunting candidates for county office in Davis County.

It's the ghost of a proposed tax increase that never happened.

The ghost is back.

And this time, it's going after Davis County Sheriff Bud Cox, the only elected county official who, so far, has survived the political backlash of the proposed tax increase. Two county commissioners who were involved in the proposal have failed to make it onto county ballots in the past two years, and they blame it partly on the failed tax plan.

Members of the public who support Cox's challenger, Davis sheriff's deputy Todd Richardson, have written letters to the editors of local newspapers urging people to get Cox out of office for supporting a property tax increase in 2002, an increase that would have been used to build an expansion to the Davis County Jail and buy one vehicle per patrolling deputy in the sheriff's office.

The expansion is happening anyway and is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, but it was funded through a $24.8 million bond voters approved in 2004.

The tax increase commissioners proposed in 2002 was panned by residents and the Utah Taxpayers Association. Many partly blame the failed re-election bids of former County Commissioner Michael Cragun and current Commissioner Dannie McConkie on the proposal.

"I certainly think that was a factor," said Todd Weiler, chairman of the Davis County Republicans. "They didn't even get a primary. They didn't even get nominated."

The commissioners had suggested that to build a jail expansion and pay for operating expenses, a tax increase would be needed on the portion of property taxes levied by the county, which was then about 10 percent, or $115 a year on a $163,000 home.

At the time the Davis School District portion of property taxes was just over 60 percent, said Steve Rawlings, Davis County clerk/auditor.

"Many times facts get so distorted that the public perception becomes reality, and the truth slides out the window," Rawlings said.

The increase commissioners proposed was 138 percent of the county portion of taxes, meaning that the tax on a $163,000 home would have more than doubled, increasing by about $150 — or a little more than $12 a month.

Many homeowners misunderstood the impact, Rawlings said, and assumed that the entire tax bill — not just the county portion — would increase 138 percent.