A majority of Utah homeowners think they are paying too much property tax this year, but only a handful feel strongly enough to protest to their county assessors.

In a poll conducted for the Deseret News and KSL-TV by Dan Jones & Associates, 51 percent of the state's homeowners said they are paying too much property tax.Counties recently mailed tax notices to homeowners. In many parts of the state, changes in state law and reappraisals by county officials led to higher assessments.

But only 13 percent of those polled said they plan to protest their assessments. The results may mean recent fretting over property taxes by state and local officials was exaggerated.

The poll surveyed 450 homeowners on Aug. 6 and 7 and has an error factor of plus or minus 4 percent.

Salt Lake County officials, who concluded their property tax protest period Friday, said they are not surprised by the poll results. Most people think they are paying too much, but when it comes to building a case strong enough to persuade the county to change the assessment, they back off.

"You may feel your taxes are too much, but if you have to gather evidence of that, you may feel it's not worth it," said Mike Reed, director of Salt Lake County's Tax Division.

As of Thursday, Reed said about 9,000 people had protested their property tax assessments in Salt Lake County this year. The number is considerably lower than officials expected, considering the increases imposed on many taxpayers.

Salt Lake County included a streamlined form with its tax notices this year that was designed to make protests easier. Reed said some officials worried the new form would lead to a flood of protests, but that didn't happen.

"The (real estate) market has turned around a little," Reed said. "If a couple of houses on the street have sold for what the appraisal is, people will think they don't have a legitimate appeal.

"In past years, people would look at their assessments and say, `Maybe my house is worth that, but a house hasn't sold on my block in years."'

He estimated up to 80 percent of the protests will result in some tax reduction. That's because the people who take the time to collect the necessary information and drive to the County Government Center usually have a legitimate complaint, he said.

People who protest run the risk the county will determine they pay too little.

The county changed its process this year to expedite protests. Reed said 1,100 of the 9,000 protests already have been resolved.

The Legislature's solution to a lawsuit by AMAX Magnesium Corp. earlier this year increased homeowner taxes 1.1 percent across the state. While some rural counties saw increases of 7 percent, Salt Lake County homes only went up 0.07 percent as a result of the Amax issue.

The problem started when the Utah Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for properties assessed by the county to receive an automatic 20 percent discount on its values when figuring property taxes while large companies that are assessed by the state do not.

AMAX Magnesium Corp. is one of those large companies. It filed a claim that led to the Supreme Court ruling.

State lawmakers have blamed local governments and school districts for not adjusting their tax rates to compensate for the Legislature's actions. They said some local governments and districts have passed huge increases and blamed them on the Legislature.

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(Additional information)

Deseret News/KSL-TV

Do you own or rent your home?

Homeowner (buying) 75%

Renting 24%

Don't know/other 1%

Do you think you pay too little property tax on your home, about the right amount, or too much for the services you receive.?

Too little 1%

About right 44%

Too much 51%

Don't know 4%

Which of the following would best describe how you feel about your latest reappraisal by your county assessor?

Too little and you could sell it for more 13%

About right 43%

Too high adn you could not sell your home for that amount 24%

Don't know/haven't seen an appraisal 21%

View Comments

Do you plan to protest your property taxes?

Probably 13%

Probably not 73%

Don't know 14%

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