SL County School Districts to Get $900K Windfall

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) School districts in Salt Lake County will soon get a surprise windfall of nearly $892,000. County Auditor Jeff Hatch says the money comes from property taxes that were overpaid to redevelopment agencies dating back to 1998.

"It was really kind of an administrative error that created this, but we felt it had gone on long enough it was time to straighten out the accounts and have them pay their fair share," says Hatch.

The money was paid into the county's tax coffers by property owners in the process of protesting their assessments. In some cases the state issued a refund to those taxpayers - which the county duly returned. But for several years, Salt Lake County has failed to demand that city redevelopment agencies reimburse it for that money. Now the county auditor has come calling and the Salt Lake City RDA owes the largest chunk - $1.7 million.

Luckily, Hatch says Salt Lake City knew it would have to return the money at some point and has kept it in a secure fund, rather than spending it on development projects. The money will be a bonus in the budgets of the county's three school districts.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2009 KCPW