By Julie Johansen
Emery County is proposing a one-time tax levy to pay for a final and unappealable judgement to refund taxes to centrally assessed entities in the county. These entities appealed the tax and were granted their appeal. This meant that Emery County had to repay the appealed taxes.
The total amount required to be collected to refund the tax is $112,500. Public input was desired to decide how to repay this money and the commissioners proposed a tax increase. The tax impact on a $125,000 residence would amount to $3.67 and for a business it will be $6.67 for one year.
All concerned citizens were invited to attend a public hearing on Tuesday evening to give their input. The hearing was attended by a few concerned citizens. Their comments included: Who set the rates? Why can the state do this? What can we do to stop it? Why are not more people concerned?
The commissioners had met earlier in the day with members of the Utah State Tax Commission to receive explanations as to why the taxes for these entities had been lowered, resulting in the local residents’ taxes needing to be raised. The tax commission is governed by the state legislature. They explained that the value of the power plants, etc., is diminishing, so their taxes are being lowered while homes are selling for much more than previously assessed.
