Show Tax Districts Complicate Utah Prop Property I T Tax Set Up t I The Abundance of special tax taxing ng r districts has greatly Complicated local property t tax x administration This was Vas t the conclusion reached In a special study released by 1 Utah Foundation the private profit non-profit government research organization According to the Foundation report report re report port the problem of special tH t I is 19 particularly acute In to Salt Satt Lake County where the total number of separate parate taxing Juris Juris- Jurisdictions dictions has Increased from sev seven rt to twenty nine during the past 23 25 years The fact that the les ley of most of these districts overl overlap p each other further complicates com cony the matter At the present pres pies preSent ent time S Salt lt Lake County must J q divided into 44 separate tax areas each of which has hai a different different dif 1 ferent re total property tax levy This yeat year 1957 the total levy varies from a 4 low Jaw of mills mill per 1000 assessed valuation val In one area of ot the Jordan School District to a high of mills in an area which is fJ now part of South Salt Lake Lakel The study notes that there are currently four fout taxing areas in Salt Lake CUy aty with a different levy applying In each one Murray Murray Mur Mur- Murray ray has two taxing areas and I South Salt Lake City also has bas two Even the small towns of bf t South Jordan and Riverton each have two separate taxing areas within their boundaries Twenty 1 different tax rates are applied In various parts arts of Jordan School District and eighteen taxing areas teas are found In the Granite School District Foundation analysts analyst observe 1 this hl character er of at merit ment has greatly greasy hampered local lecat property properly tax administration They mention that during recent reemt years ears Salt Lake County has bees beer repeatedly late in meeting tax c calendar deadlines This year for tOt example some property owners id the county did hot receive their val valuation atlon not w v ti N until nearly two I months after the legally i I ed cd deadline of May 21 In one year Salt Lake County was seven seven sev sev- seven I I en months bt late In submitting Its assessment reports to the State Tax Commission While there I may be a number of 01 other factors accounting for tor these delays such as Inadequate personnel and machines ma may machines chines local officials a large part of this blame to the complications resulting f fro from ram m these overlapping taxing Juris Juris' dictions diction The Foundations Foundation's study points paints out that Utah Utah's 1957 Legislature provided a possible solution to the problem by enacting the County Service Area Act This 1 new now l law w provides that the county may furnish special types of ot service service ser serf vice to unincorporated areas and fix the rate of county service area taxes and fees required to pay for these type municipal services Creation pf of such a county county coun county ty service area in Salt Luke Lake County County Coun Count ty could do much to eliminate the necessity for many of the special districts which perform only a single service in a limited area In addition such a move would also correct the inequality city taxpayers subsidizing the cost of type municipal services provided provided pro vided by the county to I residents The new law provides however however how how- I ever that the Initiative for the creation of such county services areas must begin with the County County Coun County ty Commission As of the present time the County Commission has taken no action to establish such county service areas in Salt Lake County I |