West Jordan Representative Pushes for Property Tax Ammendment

None by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) Representative Wayne Harper has a plan that could help homeowners in Utah's small counties avoid property tax sticker-shock. He's running a bill to standardize property value assessments.

 

"We're going through and saying, ‘OK. Let's go through and refine what the system is to accomplish and provide some support and direction," Harper says.

He says smaller counties often don't have the resources they need to accurately assess properties in person every five years, as required by law. So their residents tend to be caught off guard when their homes are re-assessed. Harper's bill requires these counties use a computer-assisted assessment system every year to account for annual property value increases. His bill has the support of county assessors, the Utah Taxpayer's Association, and the Citizen's Coalition for Tax Fairness. But coalition spokesman Ron Mortensen says even more could be done.

"We look at it as a positive step, but we also think that we still need to look at some fundamental property tax reform," Mortensen says.

 

Mortensen says his group has spoken with Representative Harper and he does not think this bill would preclude additional efforts to improve Utah's property tax system. Harper's bill passed unanimously out of the House Revenue and Taxation Standing Committee Friday and moves to the House for consideration.

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