Shadow Mountain Lane sits high on Ogden's bench, where big homes overlook the valley below. The crisscrossing boundaries of local governments there place four of the homes into their own, small property "tax area," one with a special distinction.
It has Utah's highest property-tax rates for a residential area. In fact, its rates are three times higher than the state's least-taxed area (in unincorporated Kane County).
"We knew that taxes were high here. But we didn't know they were the highest in the state. I guess it's not that big of a surprise, though," says Kathleen Alder, a Shadow Mountain Lane resident.
Property-tax notices statewide will be mailed in the next few days, and taxes are due on Nov. 30. Some unpleasant surprises may be in store for many property owners — although they may take some solace knowing that, at least, their news is not as bad as that on Shadow Mountain Lane.
A Deseret Morning News analysis of State Tax Commission data shows:
One of about every seven local governments hiked property taxes this year. That is the highest number of governments increasing taxes at the same time in at least 16 years.
More than 500 local governments in Utah (cities, school districts, counties, special districts, etc.) are collecting a record combined total of $1.66 billion this year, or nearly $140 million more than last year. That is about a 9 percent increase.
Six local governments are more than doubling taxes, and eight others are raising them by at least 50 percent. The biggest hike by percentage is by the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District around Cedar City. Its taxes are up 697 percent, jumping from $9.49 last year on a $250,000 home to $75.63 now.
Eight local governments are raising taxes by more than $100 each on a $250,000 home. The biggest hike is by the town of Ballard, Uintah County, where such a home would face an increase of nearly $328.
Some governments in highly populated areas are among those with the biggest tax increases. On a $250,000 home, West Valley City, the state's second-largest city, raised its share of taxes by $201; Ogden School District raised them by $188; and South Salt Lake raised them by nearly $225.
Taxes vary widely across Utah. The most expensive area has taxes of about $2,493 on a $250,000 home. The least expensive area would have just $851 in taxes on a home of the same value — a difference of $1,642.
 | Deseret Morning News graphic Property tax hikes 2006Requires Adobe Acrobat. |
The most expensive
A look at Shadow Mountain Lane helps show why some areas have higher taxes than others, and why its taxes are the highest of the high. (One other Ogden tax district has slightly higher taxes, but it contains no residences — just vacant commercial land.)
Residents on Shadow Mountain Lane have two problems: First, they pay to an especially long list of different local governments; and second, many of those governments charge among the highest rates for agencies of their kind.
Shadow Mountain Lane residents pay tax to eight local government entities (Weber County, Ogden city, Ogden School District, three water/sewer districts, a mosquito abatement district and the new Weber Area Dispatch 911 district), plus they pay a special Ogden levy to help purchase additional water supplies.
In comparison, residents in unincorporated Kane County, who have the state's lowest tax rate, pay taxes to only three local government entities (Kane County, the Kane County School District and a water conservancy district).
The governments that tax Shadow Mountain Lane residents also are among the most expensive of their kind.
For example, Weber County's government has the third-highest tax rate among the state's 29 counties. The Ogden City School District has the third-highest rates among the state's 40 school districts. Ogden has the second-highest taxes among large cities.
With such high charges by multiple governments, all "tax areas" within Ogden make the list of the top five highest rates charged anywhere in Utah.
Shadow Mountain Lane residents were charged even more than other Ogden residents because crisscrossing boundaries included them in one more water district than most other Ogdenites — in the Uintah Highlands Water and Sewer Improvement District.
Shadow Mountain Lane also jumped to the top of the tax rate list this year because of some big tax hikes among governments that serve it. The Ogden School District, for example, raised taxes by $188 on a $250,000 home. Also, the new Weber Dispatch 911 District started a new levy, which added $41.50 on a $250,000 home.
By comparison
"We never knew our taxes were the highest, because how do you compare that?" Alder said.
The Deseret Morning News was able to make such comparisons through computer-assisted analysis of state tax data.
For example, the paper compared property tax rates in Utah's 25 most populous communities. Ogden turned out to be the most expensive — with taxes ranging between $2,371 and $2,494 on a $250,000 home in various areas of the city, depending upon which special districts residents live within.
No. 2 on the list was Salt Lake City, where taxes in various parts of the city ranged from $1,873 to $2,183 on a $250,000 home. No. 3 was Kearns, with such taxes between $1,743 and $2,124.
Rounding out the Top 5 among the large communities were West Jordan, where such taxes were between $1,624 and $2,103; and West Valley City, where they range between $1,777 and $2,096.
The lowest taxes among the Top 25 most populous Utah communities were in St. George, where taxes were $1,234 on a $250,000 home; Pleasant Grove, from $1,452 to $1,455; and Orem, $1,456.
When looking at the entire state, some of the most scenic rural areas were among those with the lowest taxes. The lowest of the low was unincorporated Kane County, with just $851 levied on a $250,000 home.
Kane County Commission Chairman Mark Habeshaw, who lives in that unincorporated area, said, "I think we have pretty good services for what we pay. We've worked hard at balancing services and costs."
But he adds that pressure is building to raise taxes, with recent growth creating demand for such things as more law enforcement and fire protection. "Also, all of our officials are near the bottom of the pay scale, and we need to do something about that," he said.
The median tax rate among Utah's 1,200 separate tax areas (created by overlapping boundaries of its 500 local governments that charge property tax) would bring $1,651 in taxes on a $250,000 home. All those numbers may help Utahns gauge their relative tax burden.
Tax revenue pie
Overall property taxes being collected from Utah's local governments are up about 9 percent this year. Among the record $1.66 billion being collected, here is how much is going to different kinds of governments:
A majority of all property tax revenue — 55 percent — goes to schools. Among Utah's 40 school districts, Jordan School District in Salt Lake County collects the most: $158 million. Tintic School District in Juab County collects the least, $200,154.
18 percent of property tax revenue goes to Utah's 29 county governments. Salt Lake County receives the most (nearly $135 million), and Piute County receives the least ($247,995).
15 percent goes to the 235 cities and towns in Utah that collect property tax. (Not all municipalities levy such tax — Moab, for example, does not, and depends on other revenue sources.) Salt Lake City receives the most ($68.4 million), and tiny Ophir in Tooele County receives the least (just $422).
12 percent goes to 202 special districts in the state. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District receives the most ($28.3 million), and the Henrieville Cemetery Maintenance District in Garfield County receives the least (just $659).
Big tax hikes
One of every seven local governments that charge property tax are raising rates above levels that would provide the same revenue as last year. That includes 21 school districts; four counties; 32 cities and towns; and 21 special districts — four of which are new this year.
But six governments are more than doubling such rates.
They include the Central Iron County Water Conservancy District (up 697 percent); Ballard, Uintah County (271 percent); Parowan (215 percent); South Salt Lake (134 percent); Big Water, Kane County (127 percent); and the Lake Point Cemetery District in Tooele County (121 percent).
Some governments, while not necessarily doubling taxes, are imposing huge dollar increases. Eight had increases of more than $100 on a $250,000 home.
They include Ballard ($328); Parowan ($300); Big Water ($267); South Salt Lake ($225); West Valley City ($201); the Ogden School District ($188); the West Jordan Fairway Estates ($104); and the Kane County School District ($100).
Reasons for the hikes vary.
R. Scott Wilson, executive director of the Iron County district, said its increases came in part because it would like to join a project to build a pipeline to bring water to the Cedar City area from Lake Powell. It also wants to pursue projects to help better recharge groundwater with runoff that is now lost to evaporation.
Ballard Mayor Thomas Nordstrom said Uintah County had been providing police and fire protection for his town of 800, but the community recently asked to take care of that itself. "So we raised our taxes to take care of that," he said.
Parowan City Manager Joe Melling has said the city had not raised its tax rates for 30 years. It had balanced budgets by depending on profits from utility funds but had delayed upkeep of those utilities. He said needed upgrades on them now are forcing the increase in property tax.
Similarly, West Valley City officials said they had not raised tax rates for services in its 25-year history. But the city had used one-time money from land sales and other sources in recent years to make ends meet. Now it is imposing a large increase to maintain services and catch up from years of not raising taxes.
Big Water is essentially reversing an earlier big tax cut. Municipal clerk Genia Joseph has said that a previous mayor had cut taxes in half and the city had survived largely on old surpluses. She said that is now gone, and the town is putting taxes back where they were before the cut.
South Salt Lake Mayor Robert D. Gray has said a change by the Legislature in how it distributes sales taxes is costing his heavily industrialized city $2 million a year, so it had no choice but to raise property taxes to make up the difference.
How to lower taxes
When Alder heard that her Shadow Mountain Lane had the state's highest tax rates, she asked what might be done to lower them. When it was suggested that residents could lobby officials to lower them over time, she scoffed, "Like that's going to happen."
But it actually did happen this year more often than might be expected, amid heat from upset voters.
At least 82 local governments had proposed to raise tax rates beyond levels that would provide the same revenue as last year. To do that, "Truth in Taxation" laws required them to advertise the proposed increases in newspapers and in preliminary tax notices — and required them to hold public hearings.
Three of them totally abandoned proposed increases: Garfield County School District, which dropped a proposed 17 percent hike; Kanab City, which dropped a proposed 18 percent hike; and the Panguitch Lake Fire District, which axed a 125 percent hike.
Eight others reduced, but did not eliminate, proposed increases: the Central Iron County District, which went from a 1,349 percent increase to 697 percent; Ballard, from 643 to 271 percent; Bluffdale, from 81 to 36 percent; Highland, from 55 to 39 percent; Kane County School District, from 46 to 23 percent; Box Elder School District, from 28 to 24 percent; Hurricane, from 26 to 13 percent; and Taylorsville, from 15.4 to 15 percent.
In short, 11 of 82 governments proposing hikes either dropped or reduced them amid political heat in the Truth in Taxation process. That is about a one in seven chance of success for residents wanting to cut hikes.
Wilson, with the Central Iron County District, said its Truth in Taxation hearings were crowded with people concerned about its initially proposed 14-fold increase. "My board is sensitive to the comments received," he said. "We don't make decisions in isolation. Feedback is important in the process."
Cedar City resident Barry Short wrote the Morning News an e-mail after the Central Iron County District's Truth in Taxation hearing. "We're pretty close to voter rebellion," he wrote. While the tax hike was reduced, he complained that the still-much-higher rates "left voters seething."
Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, urges residents to attend Truth in Taxation hearings — even if they feel they likely will not be successful.
"If a local government goes through a Truth in Taxation hearing and no one shows up, the message received is that the taxpayers are not concerned about their taxes," he said. "Even if a local government decides to stick with an increase, residents attending help ensure that they (officials) don't come back and do it again in a couple of years."
Despite all of the increases this year, Jerman also notes that property taxes are still relatively low in Utah — but sales and income taxes are relatively high.
"Property tax, based on 2004 data, the most current available, show the burden in Utah was the 30th highest in the country, and 20.6 percent lower than the national average," he said. "But property tax is the only type of tax in Utah that is below the national average. The others are higher."
E-mail: lee@desnews.com