Utah Taxpayer

I guess this would be bearable if local government services in Ogden, OSD, and Weber County were significantly better than everyone else's.

The average for Salt Lake County for 2006 is 1.31% and the median is 1.33%, with the high 1.59% and the low 1.09%.

Sean Thomas
Salt Lake County Auditor

Sean,

Thanks for the info. The 2006 effective average for Salt Lake County -- which is the sum of all property taxes unadjusted for RDA diversions divided by total valuation -- is 1.32%.

MJ

This is such a bogus article. When you don't have a TAX BASE (ever heard of that Utah TAXPAYER association) of course you are going to have to have other ways to produce revenue. Been to Ogden lately? Didn't think so. Neither has anybody else. That is the problem. Pretty much all stores in Riverdale, Layton, or Harrisville and a doughnut around downtown Ogden. I'd like to hear your practical solution on how Ogden should have done things to improve. And don't give me that argument that the market eventually fixes itself. Ogden has had nearly 30 years for the market to even itself out and never did it. Thank goodness for people who aren't so one-issue minded to be able to see what had to happen in Ogden. The Junction will improve things here.

I am happy to pay high taxes if it means that my city becomes a better place where my children aren't afraid to go to school, downtown, or simply down the street. It's pretty easy to point the finger when you are Sandy, Day Break, Herriman, or West Jordan. Come on up here, live for a while, then tell us what it is really like and then how you would improve things.

Facts are stubborn things, and the facts show that your Ogden-has-no-tax-base argument is not supported by the facts.

Ogden's property tax base per capita is about 32% lower than the state average, but Ogden's sales tax revenue per capita (FY2005) was $153, which is higher than the state average of $148 and just slightly lower than the average ($155) for Utah's 30 largest cities.

Several Utah cities have per capita property tax bases and sales tax revenues equal to or lower than Ogden's, including Provo, Taylorsville, Logan, Roy, and many, many other cities.

Many of Ogden's problems are self-inflicted as evidenced by the endless cycle of RDAs that the city has created over the years.

Of course, we all know that statistics are ALWAYS correct and are never in any way misleading depending on what the presentor is trying to get across. Statistics are one thing, practicality and reality are another. Not that I am in favor of taxes, but Ogden is in a pretty unique situation for this area and state. Being the main city in the Top of Utah leads Ogden to require more tax revenue than most cities; probably nearly all other cities in the state. Again- solutions speak a whole lot louder than statistics- so let's hear 'em.

Have you read http://www.ogden-valley.blogspot.com/ or Huntsvilletown.com? We are resisting what happened to Ketchum, ID, Jackson, WY and Summit Co.- Park City, UT. Some like to think it is inevitable but we permanent residents like to think of ourselves as stewards of our beautiful Valley and choose to fight for proposition 13 protection. "Truth in Taxation" is dead in Utah having been denuded by legislation re 06 tax legislation summary, SB 221 etc. We are gaining ground toward a Class Action lawsuit against Weber County Commissioners and Assessor Madson to put a temporary stop order on their tax rape of our Valley. Huntsville Town, for example, has an average residential property tax assessed value increase of 116% over last years' 80% increase, and our taxes average a 91% increase. No "Truth in Taxation" meeting, no Utah State Tax Commission oversight of out of control Weber County tax assessors and outrageous Commissioners. No responsive action by the County after two successful petition drives asking politely for sanity and relief, and an overwhelming crowd of outraged Valley residents at the Junior High gym. What say you Utah Taxpayer? Still suppport and defend "Truth in Taxation"? Still - when so much has happened within your two year data and statistical deadzone? Please, we need more than excuses for crazy people tryng to tax us out of our own homes up here. And I get the feeling Davis, Utah, and Salt Lake Counties are under tax siege also. HELP! We are dying...Any one out there wanting to network and organize toward a peaceful march on the Governor's mansion until he calls for a special session of the legislature to enact Propositon 13 homeowner protection contact me dkbell266@yahoo.com . And Utah Taxpayer organization, again I thank you for all you do and hope you are among the first to send and email.

Could you elaborate on how SB221 specifically has caused higher property taxes?

If you can demonstrate that your evaluations are too high, we'd love to see the data and help out anyway we can. Send data to mike at utahtaxpayers dot org.

Moving to Prop 13 and away from fair market value has serious downsides, including serious inequities for new home buyers which are frequently young families. The burden is also passed on to new businesses.

Also, when large numbers of property owners are mostly insulated from large tax increases, they become less concerned about how their government spends their money because others (new property owners) will face the brunt of the increases. As a result, more and larger bonds are passed.

Finally, Utah's property tax burden as a percent of income is nearly the same as California's.