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Show v y Fun Spot Woods Ranch has again become a popular spot for winter fun. Several youngsters challenged the hills, some ending up with bloody noses, others with renewed family relationships. County assessment above average The assessment ratio of all locally assessed property in Iron County averaged 16.97 percent during 1977. This fact was reported by Utah Foundation, the private tax research organization in their analysis of an assessment-sales ratio study recently prepared by the State Tax Commission. Com-mission. The study shows that assessment levels of locally-assessed property throughout the State last year averaged 12.88 percent and ranged from a low of 5.63 percent in Sanpete County to a high of 18.75 percent in Juab County. Sanpete County never has been revalued under the state wide reappraisal program while Juab County was revalued in 1976. Property in Iron County was reassessed in 1976. According to the Foundation report, property assessment ratios have been declining, generally despite the fact that the first cycle of the revaluation program has been completed in 25 of Utah's 29 counties. Assessment levels in Utah have declined from an average of 17.98 percent in 1967 to 12.88 percent in 1977. Foundation analysts point ouf that the effect of the property revaluation program has been to equalize assessments among individual properties and to raise assessment levels in the counties that are revalued. During recent years, real estate values have been rising faster than the assessment changes. As a result, the overall average state wide level of assessment has been declining. The initial aim of the revaluation program was to equalize the general level of local assessments at about 20 percent of fair market value. In general, the program has come reasonably close to achieving this 20 percent objective, at least in the initial stages following revaluation. However, because of inflation and rapidly changing property valuers, the initial equalization results soon . become outdated. Still to be completed in the first cycle of the reappraisal program are Carbon, Salt Lake, Sanpete, and Sevier Counties. New valuations are scheduled to be placed on the tax rolls this year (1978) in Salt Lake County with the other three counties scheduled for completion by 1979. If the 20 percent valuation objective is achieved, the increase in Salt Lake County local assessments would average 82 percent. Legislation enacted last year will delay implementation of new assessed values that will be developed during the second cycle of the reappraisal program until after the work is completed in all 29 counties of the state. Local assessors, however, will be required to "maintain their local ratios of assessment to fair market value". Presumably this means that local assessors will be required to make adjustments each year to prevent further slippage of assessment ratios. |