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Show r V T w 1 5 ' Castle Dale, Utah Tuesday Property and home values skyrocket in 1997 V' 500 . JIM FAUVER By Emery County assessor December brings the Assessors Office to a close for 1997. To summarise the year, the office saw an increase in sales activity of both vacant land and residences. The prices paid for all types of property were on the increase in 1997. The sales price on an average home in the county increased between 12 and 15 percent, vacant lots went from an average of $8,000 for a .5 acre lot to $12,000. Also, new home construction jumped from less than 20 new homes in 1995 to more than 70 in 1997. The appraisers in the Assessors Office saw an increase of building permits for additions and garages, etc., throughout the county. During January of 1998 the appraisal staff will be working in the unincorporated areas of the county performing the reappraisal of all residential properties. These values will be placed on the tax roll for 1998. They will also be appraising new construction generated from the building permits and investigating any other changes in prop- erty throughout the county. If you see the county car in your area, and have any questions, please flag the driver down. They will gladly take the time to help in any way they can. If new construction is evident on your property they will knock on the door and let you know why they are there and ask your permission to measure, take pictures and check the construction quality. If no one is home they will complete the process and leave a flyer at the door. If you have any questions please call the Assessors office. Appraisers Carol Riddle and Kris Bell will be happy to explain the process of the data collection. January is the time for Jan Petersen to send personal property affidavits to all businesses in the county. There will be an sent to anyone who holds a current business license. When you receive your affidavit, if you have any questions or assistance in filling out the forms please feel free to call Petersen and she will be happy to come to your place" ofbusihess and help with this process. The most important thing to remember is that if you claim an item on your income tax as a write-ofyou should claim it as an asset on your personal property affidavit. . Mobile home owners that have chosen to have their mobile home billed as personal property will be receiving personal property tax notices for your home in January. You have 30 days from the time of receipt to appeal the value or pay the amount due. If you have any questions on the value or would like to work out a payment plan please call Nadine Thompson. January is the start of the 1998 legislator, this year should be very interesting for property tax issues in the county and through out the state. Since the Wiltel decision has the potential to lower the values of large companies and shift their tax burden onto home owners and small business in the state, there have been an avalanche of prefiled bills ranging from doing away with proerty taxes to paying taxes only on the purchase price of a home. To highlight a couple of these bills that have been filed, one would take property taxes on your car to a flat $30 fee. The effect of this bill would save the average home owner in Emery County about $180 but some other counties would actually see an increase to the home owner. Continued on page 2A . Q3 rV" t ' r ,r v : - Vl Bob Kurtz turns 80 but keeps working as court bailiff 4 i Bob Kurtz celebrated his 80th birthday last week by eating lunch with many of his fellow county employees. The spry court bailiff retired from the LosAngeles Police Department in the late 1960s and moved to Emery County. He worked as an Emery County deputy and even ran for sheriff. He now serves as court bailiff where those who know him claim he treats everyone with the utmost respect, even those he must throw out of the courtroom. Genwal worker dies In freak accident Cable snaps as four workers walk by f, in a group of four miners who were walking through the area on their way to lunch when the cable broke. Also injured in the incident were Derk Bradley, Wellington, and Mike Hurst, Castle Dale. All three victims were transported to Castleview Hospital by Emery County ground am- By LAYNE MILLER Progress editor A contract worker at the Genwal coal mine located in Huntington Canyon was accidently killed last Wednesday morning in a freak accident. Jeffery Porch, 36, Renfrew, Pen. was killed after he was struck in the head with a cable that broke loose as a group of miners were walking past the area. . It was kind of a freak accident, reported Emery County detective Sgt. Bill Downard who investigated the incident for the sheriffs office. He was was not injured. Downard said miners had been working on a conveyor line when the cable broke. The guys that were hurt were not even working in that section, they were just walking through going to lunch, ex- plained Downard. Porch had apparently been working in the mine for several bulance. Bradley and Hurst were treated and released at the . , REVENUE: Taxes Licenses & Permits Intergovernmental Charges for Services Fines & Forfeitures Miscellaneous State parks workers keep sno wmobile trails groomed for area snow riders Transfers " Use of Fund Balance By LAYNE MILLER Progress editor Total Revenue General Fund EXPENDITURES: Commissioners Justice Court Public Defender Special Counsel Law Library Data Processing GIS It sounds like a dream job to some but keeping local snowmobile trails groomed and ready to receive the high energy machines and riders can be excit- ing and Ron Taykn; Millsite and Huntington state parks manager and Lawrence Twitchell, Scofield State Park manager, usually take the Skyline Drive hair-raisin- qO g. ClerkAuditor Treasurer o run together. Taylor says when the two venture out, it usually a good day. Last Friday was no different. . The Emery County sky was deep blue and you could almost see forever. Sanpete County was way off to the west and Emery County was way down to the east' And it was cold. Once we were inside the bright orange groomer, things warmed up greatly and it became fun. Twitchell nursed the machine onto the trail from the newly expanded parking lot at Eairview Top. by combining resources and money from the U.S. Forest Service, Parks and Recreation and a Sanpete County snowmobile group, the expanded parking lot and two nice toilets became a reality for Recorder Attorney Assessor ' : Surveyor Vehicle Registration Senior Citizen Courthouse Facility Maintenance Elections ' f Planning & Zoning Public Lands ' Fair Sheriff Traffic Enforcement Drug Enforcement Wild Land Fire Corrections . . s - Ron Taylor prepares to back the snow groomer off the trailer at Skyline Drive. those using the area for winter recreation. Snowmobiling along Skyline Drive, White River and other locations is growing by leaps POOR COPY and bounds. Officials are scram- bling to keep up with the de- niand. The Parks and Receation groomer is kept busy nearly ev- - iSt - eryday except for travel days on trails on Skyline Drive, White River near Soldier Summit and trails in Sanpete County. Snow ig plentiful in the high country. Porch received a massive head injury, the other victims were complaining of head, neck and back pain. The accident is being investigated by a team from the Mine Safety and Health County releases tight 1998 budget figures hospital, Porch was transferred to the University of Utah Medical Center by medical helicopter where he died Wednesday ' ' r night. A fourth miner in the group . . days as a contract worker installing lights on the beltline. Detention Communications Animal Control Civil Defense Flood Disaster Health $5,752,485 11,500 1,092,174 294.500 352.500 860.400 4,957 958,283 $9,327,799 $201,588 205,674 51.000 25.000 5.000 101.500 57,733 199,450 132,115 127,222 291,127 204.401 15.000 35,798 216,901 84,300 50,169 21,050 104,517 135,260 30.000 1,792,282 99,946 20.000 8,200 288,376 57,000 316,435 9.000 2.000 419,785 86,324 Continued on page 8A |