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Show Volume XVIII Issue V The Ogden Valley news Page August 15, 2010 Guest Commentary Lost Our Nerve Or Our Way? How will the first decade of the 2 st century be viewed by historians? It may be seen as comparable to the third decade of the 20th century when England was recovering from “winning” WWI, the war to end all wars. Great Britain had lost a million men in that war and was turning a scornful eye on Capitalism and a romantic eye to Communism and Socialism. She was still one of the most powerful nations in the world but for a time seemed to have lost her nerve. There are similarities to our own present day plight; we seem to, in some cases, have lost our nerve and our way. As a nation we struggle with energy resource development, terrorism, illegal immigration/ border control, job creation, and the national debt. Our founding documents and principles that are supposed to help guide us are looked at by some as being antiquated and irrelevant. Most of us know what the Constitution is; we have had some introduction to it during our life. Many of us know what is actually in the Constitution; fewer know the meaning of freedoms enumerated, even fewer know what the powers and limitations of government are. Does it matter then if we don’t know or understand our founding principles? Does that mean we can’t be a country? Can’t we just keep on doing what each individual believes is right? In fact, we could but it would be like an orchestra with no sheet music and no conductor. The first violinist would say, “Oh I know how Beethoven’s Fifth symphony should sound, just follow me and play what you think sounds good.” The result would be chaos and would only occasionally sound like something worth listening to. And one of the world’s most appreciated classical symphonies would not be remembered for long. Governing the worlds freest country requires that we pay attention to our Constitution and founding documents or our government becomes chaos. Two hundred and thirty four years ago our founding fathers and mothers passionately dedicated themselves and signed the Declaration of Independence declaring that freedom is worth risking it all. For us to succeed we must also be passionately dedicated to the same founding principles and equally so to America’s success in meeting the challenges of our time. If we’ve temporarily lost our nerve or our way we must, for the sake of future generations, Soroptimist International of Ogden Valley Welcomes New Members The Summer Social of Soroptimist International of the Valley will be held on August 7 at the home of Susan Jensen located. Soroptimist International is a service organization of women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in our local community as well as our global community. All interested women in the Ogden Valley are invited. They support YCC, Christmas Box House, St. Anne’s, CJC, Youth Impact as well as schools in countries recovering from war where women were brutalized such as Vietnam, Sierra Leone, and Uganda. A big fundraiser each year is at the Gray Cliff Lodge in Ogden Canyon. Members serve as food assemblers, wait staff, bus staff, and dishwashers raising several thousand dollars at this event alone. The U.S. State Department reports that 20,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year. There is an upsetting video on You Tube that shows a 0 to 4-year-old girl trafficked here in a U.S. city. It is the goal of Soroptimist International to help these children. For more information, please call LeeAnn Crompton at 80 -645-5 79. $500 REWARD For information leading to the persons responsible for the theft of an antique parking meter with a purple sign saying “Cowboys O n l y , Violators Will Be Hogtied” from Huntsville. Please call 80 -458-2674 or the Weber County Sheriffs’ Office at 80 -643-3572. rediscover them. If necessary we must capture and take to our hearts the spirit of those most patriotic songs, “Stars and Stripes Forever”, “America The Beautiful”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “God Bless America,” or “God Bless the USA”. Words like “I’m proud to be an American” and others resonate with the lovers of freedom. If music does not do it for you find and read the speeches given by our most patriotic Americans, from the most eloquent to the simplest expression of love of this country. We hear from the “blame America first and frequently crowd” that America is an Imperialist Oppressor and other similar nonsense, yet they can’t answer one simple question which is: Name one other country that has come even close to fighting for other people’s freedom as has the United States of America. It’s an unfair question because there isn’t another country that has demonstrated the same level of commitment to freedom. Neither is there a country that provided the kind of assistance to vanquished nations such as Japan and Germany after WWII. The goodness and the genius of Americans were demonstrated through the Marshall Plan in Europe and American efforts to rebuild Japan after WWII. According to a study by The Fund for American Studies one third of Americans under age 30 prefer socialism. This is puzzling because the examples of socialist countries in our hemisphere are Venezuela, and Cuba both ruled by powerful dictators. Socialism requires a strong central government and it is most likely that the 30 and under age group in the USA have never experienced that. We can‘t discount the fact that the present administration has made great progress in expanding the role of government and will try to increase that role if unchecked. It would seem that the youthful fascination with socialism is just that. Previous generations have been enamored with communism and other ideological forms of government. Winston Churchill’s words seem appropriate when he said of Democracy, “It’s the most horrible, God awful form of government ever devised by man, except for all the others.” (Sources: Article, The Locust Years – Mark Falcoff, June 28 20 0, “The Weekly Standard”) John W. Reynolds Pleasant View How Does Assessed Value Affect My Property Tax? By John Ulibarri Weber County Chief Deputy Assessor It is that time of year again when real property valuation notices are mailed to property owners in Weber County. The question is often asked, “How does my assessed value affect my property tax?” The answer is, not in the way most people think. First a little background. Three elements determine what the property tax is for each property. These elements are budget, taxable value, and mill levy (tax rate). The main force behind the amount of property tax paid is the budget of each taxing entity in the property’s tax district. Tax entities are guaranteed the prior year’s revenue from property tax regardless of overall taxable value. Consequently, when there is change in assessed value within the boundary for the tax entity, there is neither a windfall nor a shortfall to their coffers. This makes revenue collected from property tax a very stable source of income that serves as the foundation of many taxing entities budgets. If a taxing entity, like a city or a school district requires a budget increase over last year, the entity must go through a truth in taxation hearing to allow public comment. The “Truth in Taxation” law imposed specific public notice and public hearing requirements that are triggered when a taxing entity proposes to increase its property tax revenues (not rates) above those collected in the previous year (tax revenues generated by “new growth” in an entity’s tax base are exempt from the disclosure requirements). The public hearings are required to allow elected officials to explain the reasons for the proposed increase and allow citizens to comment on any proposed increase. By state law, Weber County, along with all the approximately forty other taxing entities, is obligated to follow Truth in Taxation each year. In addition, each taxing entity is independent of all the others within the county. For example, Weber County does not control the budget for the Weber County School District, nor does Ogden City control the budget of the North Davis Sewer District. The next element in the equation is taxable value. For the purpose of this article, taxable value is the sum of the total assessed value for each tax entity, subtracting any exemptions like the residential exemption or exempt properties, such as churches or other charitable organizations. The taxable value interacts with the bud- Family Fitness Day 5k Fun Utah State Tax Commission Run/1.5 Mile Walk and PLANETARIUM cont. from page 1 Community Breakfast The Second Annual Family Fitness Day 5k Fun Run/Walk will be held on August 28 at the MTC Learning Park at 750 Monroe in Ogden. This beautiful course runs along the Ogden River through the length of the parkway, then back slightly downhill to the finish. Pre-registration is $ 5.00. Check in and day-of-race registration is from 7:30 to 8:20 a.m. with the race beginning at 8:30 a.m. Run/walk registration includes a T-shirt, race bag, hot pancake breakfast, post-event 5-minute massage, booths, and games, and live music by “The Well- Known Facts.” Awards will be given to the top three in each age division. All proceeds from the race will benefit Weber County Substance Abuse Prevention Programs. For more information, online registration, or group rates visit www.familyfitnessday. blogspot.com or call 80 -625-3755. E-mail to <lanas@weberhs.org> Second Annual Huntsville Town Yard Sale August 28, 2010 8 a.m. Rain or Shine Dozens of individual homes participating. widow of the late Layton P. Ott for whom the planetarium is named, pledged $ million to the planetarium, which will be given over the course of 0 years. “The Ott family has made it possible for us to continue building our skills, talents, and capabilities,” planetarium director Stacy Palen said. “Their generous donation allows us to continue our work, bringing science to the public and to children of all ages in the most accurate, beautiful and thought-provoking way.” The planetarium has already sold the Expanded View production to a handful of other planetari- get to calculate the third element in the equation, tax rate. The equation to calculate the tax rate is budget / taxable value = tax rate. For instance, if an entity has a budget of $ hundred thousand and a taxable value of $ hundred million, then the tax rate for that entity would be 0. % ($ 00,000 / $ 00,000,000 = 0. %). This rate can and will change from year to year. If the budget remains the same but the assessed value changes, the rate will change inversely in relation to the assessed value. Using the same hypothetical budget as above, the taxable value for this tax entity increased to $ 0,000,000 the rate then adjusts downward accordingly to .0909% ($ 00,000 / $ 0,000,000 = 0.0909%). The real question is how do changes in assessed value affect each property owner, especially when the changes occur at different rates across the county? Most people believe as their value goes up and down so will their property tax. There is an interrelationship between assessed value and tax due. It is true that the greater the assessed value the greater the tax. However, here is where general perception and actual practice can take different paths. Overall changes in assessed value will create tax shifts. These tax shifts will affect different properties in different ways. Hypothetically, if the overall value change across the county was a 0% increase in assessed value, a property with a 5% increase in assessed value would potentially see a DECREASE in tax. Conversely, if the overall value in the county decreased 0% and a parcel only decreased 5%, the tax on this property could INCREASE. This year in Weber County assessed values fell over $ .2 billion. Assessed values in different geographic regions and property types changed at a different percentage than elsewhere in the county. This created a tax shift away from these areas and property types to other areas in the county. As in the example above, there will inevitably be some property owners who receive a reduction in assessed value but see an increase in property tax. Remember that these are hypothetical examples. This may not apply to each and every individual property. In conclusion, the concept of how the overall assessed value of each tax district is related to each individual parcel’s tax liability is a complex concept. If you have any questions feel free to call me at (80 ) 399-8572 or visit our website at <www.co.weber.ut.us/assessor> Note: Residents may appeal their property tax valuation by September 15, 2010 at the Weber County Clerk/Auditor’s office located at 2380 Washington Blvd. in Ogden. ums throughout the country, and hopes this award will generate additional awareness and interest. Ott Planetarium producers have created seven shows, in addition to “Expanded View,” specifically designed to meet national public education core requirements in science for students in grades K- 2. Palen said the NASA award and the Ott donation are particularly exciting as public acknowledgement that the planetarium is creating world-class educational content. For more information about the Ott Planetarium or the Top Stars contest, visit weber. edu/planetarium and <topstars.strategies.org> Back to School InformatIon Valley elementary Back to School Night at Valley Elementary will be held Monday, August 23 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. Parent and students may attend any of the three classroon presentations which will be held at 5:00 p.m., 5:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Parents are also invited to make appointments for individual conference dates with their child’s teacher. First day of school for grades 1-6 is Wednesday, August 25. The first three days will be short day schedule-early out at 1:30 p.m. Kindergarten begins on Wednesday, September 1. SnowCreSt Jr. HigH SCHool Back to School Night at Snowcrest Jr. High will be held Monday, August 23. 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. – Seventh Grade Students and Parents ONLY (meet in gym). 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. – Open to all junior high students and parents. Something for Everyone Antiques ~ Home Decor Tools and much more! For more information, call Michelle Robinson at 801-745-0701. We are offering haf gym-only memberships! Gym memberships only $25 per month.* Month to month memberships are now available. Call for rates. Get 1 FREE month for everyone who joins HAF for a year membership by 9/1/10 restrictions * Someapply. Call for details. Only $25 per month! Call (801) 745-1700 to sign up now. 4776 East 2600 North ~ Eden Located down behind the old car wash at the end of the cul-de-sac. August 21 Classic Rock All Stars $20/carload Rock GATE OPENS 6 PM, CONCERT BEGINS 8 PM The Classic Rock All Stars feature the original lead singers and stars of Ride Captain Ride, Get Ready, Green Eyed Lady and I Just Want to Celebrate. Mike Pinera of Iron Butterfly, Peter Rivera of Rare Earth and Jerry Corbetta of Sugarloaf get together to rock the house with the classic hits of the late sixties and seventies. They are sure to have the Wolf Mountain fans on their feet grooving to Hey Big Brother, InnaGaddaDa Vida and many more! September 4 The Soulistics $20/ carload Soul Classics |