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Show "ttlJT0T3-OIiT84- T 1 . k - 2v V-V- J,- - ' ji i ill ' i I -- li.'0 hiU'J 12-086- ! ' mllmliuh Si ill !I nit' ! li li ' ' i 1 ?. $ r ji 'gKiJ jv I S'Lf !' S1- .- C4. i;!4'ci ." 0RDER 0 TT LI B- - U U F U LS E R A LS S 1f.0lJ E P M DUL K 841 LAKE CITY UT Mm R R V -. -. .. . CAP- t -- vs ' San Juan k s HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH Volume 87 Number 45 SINCE 1915 50 cents August 18, 2004 v'a 4 Property revaluation causes challenge in Blanding area An ongoing attempt to make the property valuation process fair may result in an increase in taxes for a number of property owners in the Blanding area. The total assessed valuation of properties in Blanding increased from $48.4 million in 2003 to $55.7 million in 2004. For the Blanding area, tin' Cem- etery District valuation in- creased by $12 million, from $77 million to $89 million. This increase in assessed valuation, which represents a 15 percent jump, is almost entirely the result of revaluation of prop- Steven Robinson, the son of Julie and David Robinson of Monticello, enjoys a turn on the mechanical bull at the 2004 San Juan County Fair. Staff photo Successful 2004 County Fair The 2004 San Juan County Fair was the Place to Soar in 2004 after a week of events which ended on August 14. The highlight of the 2004 Fair may have been a concert by Blackhawk, with a capacity crowd of enthusiastic country music fans. In addition, other popular events at the Fair included hundreds of County Fair entries, the Jr. Livestock judging and auction, Talent Find, the Lil Mr and Miss Wrangler competition and the Blue Mountain Roundup Rodeo. In addition, there were other popular events, including an all-nig- ht softball tournament, and a carnival for the kids. There was a strong turnout at the 2004 Jr. Livestock Auction. Crowley Construction bought the Grand Champion Lamb, raised by Kyrie Walker and the Grand Champion Steer, raised by Erika Grover. Jonathon Redd raised the Grand Champion Hog, which was purchased by Monticello Days Inn. IFA purchased the Grand Champion Goat, raised by JJ Grover. The fair was a triumph for fair manager Anna Thayne and a large number of dedicated volunteers, including the 2004 Volunteer of the Year Layne Livingston. motocross racing at Bull Hollow, Shelter dedicated in Blanding Officials and interested parties from near and far gathered in Blanding on August 13 to dedicate the Gentle Ironhawk Shelter. Those involved in the dedication include Darlene Averick, program specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice Violence Against Womens office in Washington, D.C. In addition, Jennifer Atene, the mother of two children for whom the shelter is named, presented remarks, as did members of the Gentle Ironhawk Shelter Board and Executive Spackman. Director Kris Many of the speakers erties in Blanding. San Juan County Assessor Howard Randall states that the revaluation was universally done on all residential properties in Blanding. The goal was to use the same standard measuring stick on all properties. Randall said that properties in the City of Blanding and the Blanding City Cemetery District were the first to receive the new valuations, but states that the Assessors office will now focus on the Monticello area. The increase in property value is more dramatic in older and established properties. The assessed value of many older homes in the Blanding area nearly tripled. In other cases, there was a decrease in the assessed value of several homes. The revaluation process creates a dilemma for county officials, since to date only a portion of the properties have been revalued. If tax rates are decreased to account for the increase in value in Blanding, it will result in significant tax decrease in other areas. While it is hard to argue against a process that evaluates every property on the same set of criteria, the increase in assessed value was dramatic in a number of cases. Property taxes for one home increased from $465 in 2003 to $1,439 in 2004. The value of properties in San Juan County continues to cause challenges for county officials. In the San Juan mid-1950- Bluff Kids Kamp a la- bor of love - See page 2 receives Indian education grant of U U - See page 3 s, County had a higher assessed valuation than any county in the state except Salt Lake County, Since' that time, the relative value of properties in the county has decreased. As recently as 1990. the value of county prop- erties exceeded $1 billion. The figure has dropped until it has reached the current valuation of $444 million. A decreasing tax bast.' creates a significant challenge to run county programs. Most taxing entities work from the assumption that property values will steadily, if not dramatically, increase over- It is just the opposite in San Juan County, which has seen a shrinking of the assessed value of county properties. This means the tax base upon which to run programs is less than half the size of 14 years ago. The decrease in property values over time has primarily come from centrally assessed oil and gas properties. In 1991, nearly 90 percent of the countys value was in these centrally assessed properties. As the value of centrally assessed properties drops, private homeowners have taken an increasingly larger share of the total assessed value of the county. At the current time. Governor creates ral board - ru- See page 3 Doris talks about getting a pet - See page 4 Additional tax facts - See Letters, page 6-- 7 San Juan County Fair results - See pages 10-- 1 1 Football, volleyball seasons to begin this week - See page 12 Auble and Hoopes obituaries - See page A 14 good week for news in La Sal - See page 16 Back to school shopping - See Caveman, page 20 time, the centrally assessed properties account for approximately 60 percent of the total. More than a decade ago, San Juan County Commissioners recognized the potential impact of decreasing property values and created trust funds containing millions of dollars. In recent years, trust fund revenues provide more revenue for the county than have property tax revenues. boy Koen Lyman Ashley & Kedric Cosby July 31 girl Mackayla Rae & Kay Walker August 7 Jennifer boy Breckyn Lloyd Staci & Jeremy Hoggard August 14 com- mented on the unintentional architectural design of the facility, located at 700 S. 100 W. From the air, the new facility looks like both a moccasin and a cradleboard with the head facing east. It was pointed out that both of these symbols are representative of healing. Speakers expressed the confidence that sacred ones would come and that the shelter would be a place of healing. The shelter has its genesis in tragedy; the brutal murder of two children of Jennifer Atene by their father. Monticello News Roundup Letters to Editor Society Sports Community News The new Gentle Ironhawk Shelter was dedicated on August 13 in Staff photo Blanding. Legals Classified Real Estate Blanding 2 6 8 12 14 17 18 19 |