OCR Text |
Show ( ) Jack-Straws By Jack Wallis L . ) Uintah County property tax assessment notices were mailed out Monday and Tuesday, according to the County Treasurer. The notices are nearly a month late due to problems in determining how to increase the property tax evenly throughout the state. One of the biggest controversy s at the recent Utah Legislature was over property tax increases. Some leaders concluded that the property tax was an unwieldy and unfair tax and should be done away with and replaced by a type of sales tax. When local residents compare this year's assessed valuation with last year's, we think they will also want to abolish the property tax. The County Assessor told us that the 1981 assessed valuation on real estate had been increased about 50 percent over last year. Commerical property has been increased about 70 percent and no change has been made over last year's valuation on agricultural lands. The state has required local assessors to factor or index property assessments up to the state-mandated level of 20 percent of the 1978 market value. Since there is not time to examine each individual parcel of property the assessors have taken an average assessment level and applied this average to' the entire county. The big rub comes in determining what is the fair market value. Just because a neighbor sold three acres for $30,000 an acre, does this mean all land in Uintah County is valued at $30,000 an acre? According to the state guidelines this is the theory it uses in determining market value. Of course this is not a fair market value in all cases. Inflation has thrown the monkey wrench into the property tax system so bad that some leaders have suggested scrapping the entire program in favor of some other tax that could be administered ad-ministered easier, more fairly and less expensive. This year almost all local residents will moan and groan when they receive their valuation notices, that is if they remember what last year's were. Remember, the valuation figure is the amount you multiply the annual mill levy by to determine the amount of property taxes you owe. A lower mill levy will help reduce the total tax take. The local mill levy will be adjusted according to law so it will not reap a wind-fall profit of more than six percent per-cent over the previous year due to the valuation assessment increases. But we have been told that the tax burden shift will be made giving the locally assessed real property owners a greater share of the property tax burden and relieving some of the state assessed industries and utilities. The fixed levies such as school taxes which make up about three-fourths of the property tax, the county has no control over. All mill levies will be reduced because of the increased valuation. The taxes controlled by the County Commissioners amount to only a small portion of the total mill levy, but the commissioners will receive the wrath of the taxpayer for the entire increase. Well, if by now you are totally confused you have lots of company. For those who have factual information that shows the 1981 assessment valuation higher than the 1978 adjusted market value you should attend the hearings with the Board of Equalization. Two of these hearing dates have already past because of the lateness of mailing the valuation notices. Those left are June 15 and 22 in the County Commissioner's room of the courthouse. Expect long lines of taxpayers. But if you do not appeal your assessment during these hearings you forfeit your right to protest the new figures on your assessed valuation notices. When the tax mill levy is set in August and the final property tax notice is sent in November it probably will not be as high proportionately as the valuation notice received this week seems, but it will be plenty high and we expect to see some changes in our property tax laws as a result of this year's fiasco. One of the best ways to protest is to impress your feelings to your state Senator and Representative. Maybe they can come up with a better property tax treatment next round in the State Legislature. I s: t - ,' t --;;. .- FIREMAN COOLS a Bowden Oil gas truck after it over heated last Friday in the Maeser area. Cause of the truck over heating is unknown. Damages were minimal. f ' ' '. V-.'iN'N - .-.'' ' : u i v ;? Si.i."' ' THE GOLF BALL gets blasted out of a sand trap by Mike Bethunedunngthe Men's Sather Golf Tournament, Saturday. |