Did UT County raise taxes? Article from Daily Herald

http://heraldextra.com/news/local/article_36b6249c-a5c4-5595-8a33-6ea25d7d1f06.html?mode=story#utpol

County Commission candidates spar over tax rate

Joe Pyrah - Daily Herald | Posted: Thursday, June 3, 2010 12:25 am

For months, GOP County Commission candidates have sparred over whether the county's portion of property taxes has been raised over the past three years.

Challenger Joel Wright says that the tax rate has increased 8.5 percent -- a tax increase. Incumbent Gary Anderson says a rate increase doesn't equal a tax increase if you don't pay any more.

With the collapse of the housing market, the values of homes across the county have been in flux, usually dropping. To keep county revenues flat, the tax rate must increase, even if the amount you pay doesn't.

"Either he's incredibly ignorant about the process, or he knows better and he's just using it for political purposes. And he knows better," Anderson said.

County Clerk/Auditor Bryan Thompson said that an official tax increase requires that someone pay more in taxes than the year before based on a combination of home valuation and tax rate. The county must then have a truth-in-taxation hearing as required by state law.

Utah County has not been required to hold one for the general budget in years.

"They can raise the rates to keep the revenues flat," said Charlie Roberts with the state Tax Commission. "The system is designed that way."

It's the state that sets the revenue-neutral tax rate for the county. Wright disagrees with the entire system, standing his ground that a rate increase equals a tax increase. If a home value drops, so should the amount residents pay, he says.

"It's just a difference in interpretation," Wright said. "I just don't respect very much the state mandate."

Even if he concedes a rate increase isn't a tax increase, Wright says the commission -- and Anderson -- should have cut deeper than they have given the general economic situation. The county has eliminated dozens of positions and taken early retirements over the past several years. But they haven't shown nearly the "modesty" of the state, schools and others, Wright says.

Anderson says the county already has one of the lowest tax rates in the state, comparable or lower salaries than other counties and fewer employees.

"We don't raise taxes in Utah County. We don't do that," he said.

That may be the case for general fund property taxes, but commissioners have raised a number of other taxes over the past three years.

The voters approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase for transportation. Commissioners increased that another quarter-cent by themselves for transportation because they were allowed by the state. They also increased the restaurant sales tax in the county to help cover the cost of a $40 million convention center that will be built in Provo.

They also increased the property taxes for the 10,000 or so residents who live in the unincorporated part of Utah County. That's in part because of a dust up with the state over other tax revenues, as well as to cover services like fire and policing that those who live in cities pay for through municipal taxes.