Property Tax Relief Options
REP. Gage Froerer
gfroerer@utah.gov or cell 801-391-4233
1. Target property tax relief for the elderly and/or poor.
a. Status: Bill is written and will be in form similar to HB078.
2. Increase limits on the circuit breaker to allow more people to qualify for relief.
a. Status: Bill file is open and will be presented in 2008 session for approval.
3. Allow the State sponsored 45% residential exemption to be applied on land and improvements for primary residents regardless of lot size. Presently it is capped at 1 acre lot size.
a. Status: Bill file is open and will be presented to committee in October 2007 and presented in the 2008 legislature for approval.
4. Eliminate or reduce the maximum authorized property tax levies. Counties, school districts, municipalities and special districts are all authorized to impose a wide variety of property tax levies for various purposes.
a. Status: Levies are currently being looked at by State Revenue Tax committee to see if any could be reduced or eliminated. Some may be required to charge fee.
5. Roll back certified tax rates. Require that all taxing entities “roll back” property tax levies they now impose by some amount. For example, amend truth in taxation to provide that a “certified rate” (a rate that does not trigger truth in taxation hearings) is a rate that will yield 90% of the property tax revenue that the entity budgeted or collected last year.
6. Require and increase in the certified tax rate to be approved by the electorate.
a. Status: The legislature has imposed similar requirements in previous tax years.
7. Remove property tax authority for schools or other taxing districts and replace it with a like amount on a statewide sales tax. School districts collected about $1.078 billion in property tax revenue in 2006. Would require an increase in sales and use tax by about 2.5%.
8. Freeze the property tax and/or assessments and not have it increase until the property transfers ownership. A constitutional amendment is required to implement this change. Requires 2/3 vote of both chambers and a vote by the electorate.
9. Link tax cuts and/or increase to the median value of all homes in a given county. Require counties to use the median value across the board for any increase in assessed value. A constitutional amendment would also be required since this would change the Fair Market Value portion of state law.
10. Mandate that all counties reappraise on an annual county wide basis. This would help eliminate the large spikes or discrepancies in value in different parts of the county.
11. Petition our Federal Officials to more actively pursue “The Apple Initiative”. Would require payment from the Feds on the Federal owned land in the state that is un-taxable.
Please review and email me your thoughts on any of the above options. Feel free to add additional options that you would like the State to consider.
Thanks,
Gage
