Last Wednesday we published a heads up regarding property tax reform legislation which House Representative Gage Froerer plans to offer up during the 2009 legislative session.
In that connection we'd like to direct our readers' attention to yesterday's Sharon Zini letter to the Standard-Examiner editor, which fleshes out part of the underlying problem addressed in Froerer's referenced bill, and further discusses another taxpayer inequity issue which we're hoping to see addressed by the legislature during in 2009. Read the full text of Ms. Zini's letter here:
• Many abuse Weber County's tax rulesWith our local property tax dependant local government officials scrambling to meet their own budgets during the current economic downturn, it seems to us imprudent to ignore some of the loopholes which result in non-collection of thousands of dollars in taxes which ought to go to local governments. Banning the issuance of building permits to developers who are already delinquent in their property taxes seems a no-brainer to us. When delinquent property taxes go unpaid, local governments essentially assume the role of an unwilling lender; and property owners who do pay their taxes in a timely manner assume the economic burden for those who don't.
Hopefully this loophole will not remain further unexamined by our elected legislative representatives this year.
