Utah congressmen's net worth drop

It turns out that Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, has good reason to sleep on that now-famous cot in his Washington office. Like many Americans in the recession, his net worth plummeted by about a third from 2007 to 2008.

Ditto for Rep. Rob Bishop. Doing even worse was Sen. Orrin Hatch, whose net worth dropped by nearly half. But doing a bit better was Rep. Jim Matheson, whose net worth dropped by only a fifth.

That is revealed by personal financial disclosure forms they filed with Congress on Friday. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, requested a 90-day extension to file his report.

The forms show:

Hatch, R-Utah, had a 2008 net worth of as much as $2.52 million (not counting his homes or cars), down from as much as $4.47 million in 2007 — a 44 percent drop.

Chaffetz's 2008 net worth was as much as $966,000, down from as much as $1.41 million in 2007 — a 32 percent drop.

Bishop, R-Utah, had a 2008 net worth of as much as $20,000 (not counting his home or cars), down from $30,000 in 2007 — a 33 percent drop.

Matheson, D-Utah, had a 2008 net worth of as much as $1.05 million (not counting his home or cars), down from $1.32 million in 2007 — a 20 percent drop.

Members report their assets, income and liabilities by checking boxes on categories that have wide ranges of values — so their precise net worth is not revealed; instead only a broad range is.

For example, Chaffetz reported a 2008 net worth somewhere between $26,014 and $966,000. In 2007, his range was $224,018 to $1.41 million, meaning both ends of his range were down significantly after the recession hit.

The good recession news for Chaffetz is that his income will rise this year because he was elected to Congress. The annual salary for members of Congress is $174,000. Before his election during 2008, Chaffetz reported his income (from investments and his communications and marketing work) as between $52,711 and $107,600.

Chaffetz's largest asset is his home in Alpine. Congress did not require him to list it or his personal cars among disclosed assets, but he voluntarily listed the home's value as between $500,000 and $1 million.

Utah County assessor records list the six-bedroom home as worth $767,531 for 2008 tax purposes. However, the bad news for Chaffetz is that zillow.com, a Web site that lists likely current values, estimates it is now worth $722,500, or $45,000 less.