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Show Lagoon wins battle over county tax assessments By SCOTT SUMMER1LL FARMINGTON--After several years of grappling with the method of assessing taxes on the Lagoon amusement park in Farrnington, and having been notified by the Utah State Tax Commission that the system being used is unacceptable, the Davis County Commission approved ap-proved a shift Wednesday from a cost approach to an income ap proach of assessment for the park. In the past, the park's tax has been based on the cost of the land plus the actual cost of purchasing and installing the rides and facilities. For example, if the park installed a new ride costing $1 million, the assessed value of the park would be increased by that amount. However, the method was deemed improper by the tax commission. com-mission. Because of the discrepancy between be-tween agencies, Lagoon has been unable to ascertain an exact amount of tax to pay the county. Therefore, knowing the taxes would have to be paid in the long run, the park continued con-tinued to pay an amount less than was assessed, leaving a balance owing under the new assessment of nearly $135,000. The park has agreed to pay the amount with interest and penalties as soon as the county can come up with an exact amount. Under the income approach to assessment, the value of the park will be assessed based on the sale value of the park, which incorporates incor-porates the amount of money generated ge-nerated by the park each year. Because the method has not been used for the park before, the county will take an average weighted income in-come from the past three years and average in the 1990 income figures to arrive at the 1990 tax amount. The averaging methodology will continue, and taxes adjusted accordingly accor-dingly as long as the county is satisfied the assessment remains fair to both parties. "We're trying to even out the spikes," said Assistant County Attorney At-torney Jerry Hess. "Some years the park brings in a great deal of money, and others aren't as good. We'll be able to monitor things and even it out ' Hess said Lagoon has been very cooperative during the process, and a constructive working relationship between park officials and the county coun-ty should avoid any real conflicts. "They're a unique animal in the area," Hess said. "We really don't have anything to compare it to. We ' ve been working hard with Lagoon to come up with a method that's fair to both. It's not an easy solution that we've come up with, but we both feel it's fair and we can work with it." |