Property Tax? Shift to Income and Sales Tax
With the property evaluations going through the roof in Davis and other counties raising the property tax several hundred dollars placing a great financial burden on "fixed income" Utah citizens, is it not time the legislature reduced or, even better, eliminated the most unfair tax placed on those least able to pay?
I keep reading where some of you and our present governor are spending time trying to enact a flat tax on income which is already a flat tax on about 90% of the population because the brackets are about 40 years behind income. Property tax could be replaced by simply following the IRS and have "real brackets in a "graduated" income tax placing the tax burden on those that can best afford it not on retired who have worked a lifetime just to obtain a home.
The fairest tax of all is sales tax. We choose what we buy. If we feel the tax is to high we can choose not to buy or postpone till we have enough money to buy. Even with food we can choose less expensive items or watch for sales. We have control over both income and sales tax by our choices. You as legislatures choose what we pay for property tax by giving that authority to agencies to turn on their adding machines telling us to pay whatever figure they come up with or lose the home we spent a lifetime paying for.
Please listen to your own conscience and do what is right by capping or eliminating property tax and allowing income and sales tax to cover the cost to run the schools and state. Thank you!
Ray Jones
Retired
St. George
I live in Iron County. During 2006 appraised values increased on the average 51% (some raw lands went up as much as 1000%). This caused considerable frustration to landowners since those whose value went up above average saw huge property tax increases while others saw their property taxes drop.
The property tax is the most hated tax because it is not predictable and because it is generally paid in a lump sum. There are 22 states who have addressed this problem. A few like California limit the amount of increase a homeowner can see any given year. This results in great inequities. Most states who have addressed the problem allow for a deferral of payment of increases in taxes until the property sells, at which time the taxes become payable and the taxpayer has the money to pay them. Representative Froerer and myself ran a bill last year to allow seniors to have this option; however, it did not pass. We are planning to try it again in the 2008 session. If you are interested in looking at this option, please E-mail us.
Dennis Stowell
Utah State Senator, District 28
I keep reading where some of you and our present governor are spending time trying to enact a flat tax on income which is already a flat tax on about 90% of the population because the brackets are about 40 years behind income. Property tax could be replaced by simply following the IRS and have "real brackets in a "graduated" income tax placing the tax burden on those that can best afford it not on retired who have worked a lifetime just to obtain a home.
The fairest tax of all is sales tax. We choose what we buy. If we feel the tax is to high we can choose not to buy or postpone till we have enough money to buy. Even with food we can choose less expensive items or watch for sales. We have control over both income and sales tax by our choices. You as legislatures choose what we pay for property tax by giving that authority to agencies to turn on their adding machines telling us to pay whatever figure they come up with or lose the home we spent a lifetime paying for.
Please listen to your own conscience and do what is right by capping or eliminating property tax and allowing income and sales tax to cover the cost to run the schools and state. Thank you!
Ray Jones
Retired
St. George
I live in Iron County. During 2006 appraised values increased on the average 51% (some raw lands went up as much as 1000%). This caused considerable frustration to landowners since those whose value went up above average saw huge property tax increases while others saw their property taxes drop.The property tax is the most hated tax because it is not predictable and because it is generally paid in a lump sum. There are 22 states who have addressed this problem. A few like California limit the amount of increase a homeowner can see any given year. This results in great inequities. Most states who have addressed the problem allow for a deferral of payment of increases in taxes until the property sells, at which time the taxes become payable and the taxpayer has the money to pay them. Representative Froerer and myself ran a bill last year to allow seniors to have this option; however, it did not pass. We are planning to try it again in the 2008 session. If you are interested in looking at this option, please E-mail us.
Dennis Stowell
Utah State Senator, District 28
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