| Hildale OKs 300 percent tax increase | |
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Brian Ahern bahern@thespectrum.com The Spectrum | |
HILDALE – The Hildale Town Council unanimously approved a property tax hike of more than 300 percent Tuesday, garnering scowls and disapproval from the residents in attendance. "It’s just disgusting," said local business owner Richard Holm. "These local governments are just numb to the will of the people." Mayor David Zitting said the increases were necessary, however, as the town had cut deeply into essential services like its police and fire departments in recent years. "We’re in a situation that’s tough on everybody," he said. "It’s going to hurt a lot of people, but I don’t know what else to do about it." The new tax rate will go into effect in October and raise annual property taxes to $601.02 for homes and $1,092.77 for businesses. It’s the first property tax hike the town has made in more than 15 years. "One-hundred percent of that would go into public safety," Town Manager Jerry Barlow said. Former Utah Lt. Gov. Val Oveson said the tax increase would be devastating during the current economic climate. "I understand why you’re doing it and why you need it," he said. "But it’s not a good time to raise property taxes in any shape or form." Holm expressed similar sentiments. "It’s extremely hard to feel good about these taxes, especially with an unfriendly business environment," he said. "I would suggest we look over these policies and make it more friendly toward the business environment here." Zitting agreed it might not be an ideal time for a tax hike, but said the new taxes wouldn’t hinder businesses as much as people might think. "I don’t know if it’s going to be a factor," he said. "The amount of increases on businesses isn’t going to be enough to drive them out." Oveson argued that the town’s high tax delinquency rate also contributes to the problem. More than 50 percent of residents don’t pay property taxes and Oveson said many of the tax collection problems come from defiant members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "Use your influence with the FLDS church to let people know they need to pay their property taxes," Oveson told the council. "It’s unfair to raise the rates on those paying the additional amount." Zitting said much of those back taxes would eventually be paid. "I believe there will be quite a few more payments made," he said, adding the lack of payment from FLDS members is a response to what they consider unfair treatment from the government. "There are a lot of citizens in the community when the property was taken over by the courts they were highly offended by it." Resident Metro Barlow said that situation reeks of a double standard. "It’s not fair to the people who are paying to put this collection problem on them," he said. "We ought to be figuring out what to do to stimulate the economy." | |
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TheSpectrum.com Originally published August 18, 2010 | |
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