Are you one of my 15,286 closest friends? If you got an average property market value increase of 87% on your home or an average market value increase of 284% on your undeveloped land in 2022, you are, indeed, one of my closest friends!
You may have heard that a small group of taxpayers — we call ourselves the Fair Tax Advocates — filed a lawsuit against the Utah State Tax Commission and the Wasatch County assessor. Why?
Both agencies broke the law! Look up the law if you choose: Utah Code 59-2-303.1 and 59-1-210. If all property were taxed fairly and on an annual basis as the law requires, all assessed values would go up equally.
Would taxes still go up? Yes, but in fairly small amounts compared to what many taxpayers saw in 2022.
We are asking for the 2023 tax data and will perform similar analyses if we receive it.
However, Wasatch County’s assessor has not complied with the law. Roughly 60% of the county was reassessed in 2022. Because of the inflationary rise in Utah property, the assessed values for 15,286 properties went way up in 2022. However, the 8,869 properties that were not assessed had 2021 market values and saw a decrease in their taxes. Why?
The Wasatch County assessor is not following the law and has not for years. The Assessor’s Office seems to be working by its own rules.
The State Tax Commission is supposed to assist the county assessor in complying with the rules. If the ssessor does not comply, then the Tax Commission can force them to do so through legal action. But the Tax Commission is also ignoring the law as well.
What is the effect of these violations? Unfair taxation for a sizeable portion of property owners in Wasatch County.
So, we are fighting back! As some of you know, I have done extensive analysis of the property tax rolls in Wasatch County. I have looked at 26,092 properties. I believe that the major issue in Wasatch County is poor management in the Assessor’s Office.
When property market values on tax notices go up over 100 times, it says that the assessor is not looking at what his staff is doing. Not 100 percent. Over 100 times!
See Figure 1 for land assessed in 2021. Four properties had market value increases of over 100 times, and 1,849 properties had market value increases of over 100%.
What about homes? See Figure 2 for improved property assessed in 2022 (This data includes primarily homes.). Should 2414 homes have a more than 100% market value increase in one year? Should 38 homes have a 1000% or more increase? Are these increases real?
When some properties are increased over 100 times, it makes the data for all properties suspect. If the laws were followed, property values might increase from year to year. Taxes would then gradually increase, but not like what occurred in 2022 when many people saw a 100% increase or more in their property taxes.
We want your help! Give us your contact information, and we will provide more information and invite you to a meeting of the Fair Tax Advocates.
Send an email to Bill Quapp at taxissue2023@gmail.com, and we will keep you informed. Please include your phone number. We aren’t going to take it anymore!