This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
NORTH SALT LAKE - Whether the result of fuzzy math or convenient calculating, the latest property valuations have North Salt Lake officials scratching their scalps.
How, they wonder, can one lot in a subdivision be worth the same amount as another parcel twice as big in the same neighborhood?
That's what happened in Foxboro - a newer, densely packed subdivision on this Davis County city's west side - where most of the one- and two-story homes sit on lots ranging from one-tenth to two-tenths of an acre.
Now those lots, regardless of size, are each worth $100,000, according to the county assessor.
"You can't tell me one lot and another twice its size can both be valued at the same price," said North Salt Lake Mayor Shanna Schaefermeyer.
Turns out Foxboro's uniform land assessment is part of the county's effort to catch values up to the booming real estate market.
"We had re-evaluated North Salt Lake the year before, so it was easy just to readjust the land to bring all the properties up to market value without having to factor," said County Assessor Jim Ivie, adding that Foxboro's housing and lots seem largely homogenous.
"Factoring" involves the state conducting sales-ratio studies to ensure counties upgrade area values on a regular basis. Where assessed values lag behind, the state can order counties to apply a certain percentage increase - that's factoring.
"The sales-ratio studies are intended to keep properties up to date so we don't have the big jump we saw in Bountiful," Ivie said.
For Ivie and his staff, it made sense to streamline the process wherever possible - the county's 93,000 land parcels need to be evaluated annually and fully appraised every five years.
Consequently, Candice Walters, who bought her two-story Foxboro home for $228,000 in March 2005, was surprised to see the value of her 0.19-acre lot jump from $47,000 to an even $100,000 in a year.
Other lots - larger and smaller - also have been pegged at $100,000.
"I'm ripped," Schaefermeyer said. "They can't just go in and do a blanket assessment of an area like that. They'll say it's market value but it's not fair-market value."
Ivie reminds property owners that they "have a right to appeal their valuations."
Darn right, said Schaefermeyer.
"I'm on a crusade to get the county to re-look at their valuations in the Foxboro area," she added.
In hindsight, Ivie said he wishes the county had done it differently, appraising the smaller lots at lower prices.
"But at the time it seemed the appropriate way to handle it."