Your reporting in your Nov. 1 issue of one of my answers to the candidate questionnaire did not convey accurately what I wrote. You indicated I said that the property tax system "is a scam that ought to be eliminated from our way of life." While you used some of my words, you put them together with yours in such a way that the meaning was different.
I was referencing the part of our property tax system that allows property to be continually re-evaluated and assessed at a higher value. While technically no tax increase has occurred, in fact, the property owner pays a higher tax due to the new arbitrary value put upon it by the Tax Commission. To tell people that they did not have a tax increase when they actually had to pay higher taxes due to re-evaluation is the "scam that ought to be eliminated."Admittedly, "scam" is a harsh word. However, I heard much harsher words from people in my district when their reassessments took place. They urged me to let their feelings be known. There were reports of people paying increases of 50 percent, 100 percent, 200 percent and even 300 percent. It is no wonder that people were up in arms. There is a limit as to how far the government can go in hiking property taxes and the people have already been stressed to that limit.
Reese Hunter
Member of Utah Legislature
Murray