House Representative Froerer Proposes Immediate Property Tax Relief

One state legislator responds decisively to the taxpayer heat

By Curmudgeon

$700 a Month Residential Property Taxes? A month?!?!?!?

Yes, that's right. Some homeowners in Ogden's Hole [aka in realtor-ese "The Upper Ogden Valley"] have seen their property tax assessments soar to $700 a month... as much a month as their mortgages cost. From a story in today's Standard-Examiner:

The largest tax increases in the county have occurred in the Ogden Valley area, particularly Huntsville, Liberty and Eden, he said. Some property owners in those areas are paying taxes of about $700 a month, which nearly equals their mortgage payments, he said.

When Mayor Godfrey and his Lift Ogden Amen Chorus [blessedly silent of late except, it seems, for Mr. Royal Eccles, candidate for the Council] was in full-throated roar, they assured us that the gondola/gondola scheme would make Ogden "the next Aspen" or "the new Vail" or "the new Park City." The claim changed a lot, as Lift Ogden claims have a habit of doing. When next a promoter or politician dangles a silver-bullet quick fix for Ogden's imagined ills before us, we ought to think about consequences beyond promises that Paris Hilton and her entourage will stroll the Junction browsing the Prada and Gucci shops until her next gondola ride. We ought to keep in mind that recreational residential real estate booms can, and for some, do have disastrous consequences. [Yes, being forced out of your home by ballooning property values in a fevered market is a disaster for those forced out.]

The Std-Ex story recounts State Rep. Gage Froerer's [R-Ogden's Hole] call for property tax rebates for those hardest hit. Earlier this week, Rep. Froerer, accompanied by a Weber County commissioner and county tax staff, took part in a public meeting up in the Valley to explain to angry residents why their taxes had soared so far so fast. Rep. Froerer got his ears pinned back. The residents were in no mood to listen to accounting explanations. They were angry and frustrated and afraid of losing their homes and they let Rep. Froerer know it.

Apparently, Rep. Froerer then did something very strange for a Republican office holder: he listened. [What would the President think if he found out? Happily for Froerer, the President is on yet another paid vacation and so is unlikely to learn of Froerer's apostasy.] Rep. Froerer, according to the Std-Ex story, is advocating a tax rebate for those hardest hit, modeled on a similar plan in Davis County.

Ed. Note: For robust and thorough coverage of the percipient tax revolt now brewing in Ogden Valley, be sure to check out the most recent articles in Ogden Valley Forum.