Accountant seeks tax help from jailed church leader
 
By Jennifer Dobner
The Associated Press
KVOA News 4 - Tucson
 
SALT LAKE CITY -- The accountant appointed to manage a polygamist church's trust wants help in getting property taxes paid.

The lack of cooperation last year forced Bruce Wisan to post tax notices on every house in Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. The towns are home to most of the 10,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"There ought to be a better way to do this," Wisan said in a letter sent last week to church leader Warren Jeffs and church elders William Jessop and Lyle Jeffs.

"I am hopeful that one or all of you will respond to this letter and instigate the tax payment process immediately," he said.

The church's $100 million trust holds the property and homes in both communities and some land in Bountiful, British Columbia. Church members set up the trust in the 1940s to promote communal well-being.

In June 2005, a Utah judge put the trust in Wisan's care after state attorneys claimed some assets were mismanaged, possibly to keep Jeffs on the run.

The fugitive was arrested two months ago and is in jail in Washington County on charges related to the marriage of an underage girl to another older man. Jeffs, 50, faces similar charges in Arizona.

Whether Jeffs or others will respond to Wisan's request for assistance is unknown. Last year, Jeffs told members to "answer them nothing."

Taxes in both states went unpaid in 2005 until Wisan threatened to evict anyone who failed to pay.

Wisan said he asked Jeffs for someone to coordinate 2006 payments. But he's also preparing to repeat the painstaking process of writing letters to each home if church leaders reject his request.

"I think it's easier on the community and the people to have it organized," Wisan said Friday. "But I don't know if that's what they want."

The Arizona properties represent the bulk of the taxes, with about $1.1 million due Oct. 1, deputy Mohave County assessor Dave Chevalier said.

Only a small portion has been paid so far, he said. The taxes become delinquent after Nov. 1.

The Washington County, Utah, taxes are due Nov. 30. In 2005, taxes on the Hildale properties were just under $300,000.

Taxes on 300 acres of trust-owned British Columbia property are due next July, Wisan said. The bill for 2005 was roughly $37,000 and was paid last summer without any extra effort by the accountant.

"I don't anticipate any problems up in Canada this year," Wisan said.

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On the Net:

United Effort Planned Trust, http://www.ueptrust.com
 
KVOA.com
Originally published October 20, 2006
 
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