Property taxes due today

Today, Utah's 29 county treasurers are supposed to finish collecting an estimated $2.27 billion in real property taxes to distribute to school districts, cities, special service districts and themselves.

The estimate comes from the Utah Taxpayers Association based on Utah State Tax Commission data and is up $214 million — or 10.4 percent — over property taxes collected in 2006.

Some of that increase statewide is from the 66 taxing entities that raised property taxes, and some is from rising property values combined with infrequent valuations.

In Bountiful, areas of which were appraised for the first time in a decade, many residents saw property taxes double from 2006.

In Huntsville, residents felt victimized by out-of-state residents and investors who drove up property values. And a group of residents, in a tongue-in-cheek gesture, put the town up for sale.

Property tax is sometimes called Utah's most hated tax because it's charged to people regardless of their ability to pay it.

And this year, counties across the state saw residents appealing their property values in near record numbers in an effort to reduce property taxes.

The hullabaloo caused the Utah Legislature to take notice, and about a dozen methods have been proposed for easing the property tax burden on Utah residents.

Davis County, the Davis School District, Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, Davis Mosquito Abatement District and Bountiful city responded by creating an "equity abatement," or tax reduction, for hardest-hit residents.

About $5.8 million in new growth revenue was split among 23,392 properties in Davis County, the only county to offer such tax relief. The average abatement was $212, according to the Davis County Clerk/Auditor's Office, though just fewer than 1 percent of those eligible for equity abatements had their taxes discounted by $1,000 or more.

But the equity abatement is available only for the 2007 tax bill, county officials say.

So some of the most vocal residents — in Bountiful and Huntsville — have formed the Citizens Coalition for Tax Fairness, to focus on reforming Utah's property tax system, controlling government spending and ensuring that taxpayer funds are fairly and efficiently managed.