Lawmakers may head off revolt over property taxes

If counties don't fix problems with property-tax assessments, some lawmakers are threatening that the state Legislature will do it for them.

Legislators are preparing bills for the 2008 session that will be designed to provide property-tax relief and change the way taxing entities can approve tax increases.

Property assessed by counties received valuations so high in 2007 that many residents wonder how they're going to stay in their homes, because they now must pay more in property taxes.

More than 100 people packed a public hearing Wednesday to talk about the issues before the Revenue and Taxation Interim Committee. About 20 residents from Wasatch Front counties shared property-tax woes and opinions for how to keep property taxes from getting out of control.

Bountiful resident David Piggott, 84, said his tax bill will go up $900 this year and suggested that school districts no longer tax all residents, just those who have children in school.

Karen Travis, of Alta, said her 1,700-square-foot cabin and land cost her $6,376 in taxes last year. This year, her bill is $10,508.

"I beseech you to rebate our taxes back to what we paid last year," Travis said. That would give lawmakers time to change the way taxes are levied, she added.

Committee co-chairman Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, said he plans to introduce a bill that would require voter approval for any property-tax increases above the rate of inflation. And if no one sponsors a bill to correct appraisal problems, Niederhauser said, he will.

Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, plans to co-sponsor a bill that would create a tax deferral for senior citizens.

Meanwhile, residents of Huntsville, Weber County, have banded together to put their town up for a mock sale as a way of making government leaders take notice.

The yard signs are in, said Huntsville resident Don "D-Bell" Bell. The next step is to string a banner under the "Welcome to Huntsville" sign that says "For Sale: $2.9 billion."

That figure is the total assessed value of the town's homes and land this year, according to the Weber County Assessor's Office, Bell said.

But the tongue-in-cheek approach indicates a real problem, he added, and people are packing up to get out of Huntsville, because property taxes will make it too expensive to live there for some residents.

Bell, who held a petition with names of 1,000 Ogden Valley residents, said the state needs to require that taxes be based on the price paid for property, not on Multiple Listing Service data that can be out of date.

Thirty-five other states have similar practices, Bell said.