The valuation for his sprawling Hugh's RV property at 250 S. Highway 89 ballooned from $1.2 million to $4.7 million in a year's time.
"Last year, I paid $12,581.98, and this year's bill is $35,163.93," Williams said. "I don't have that money in my pocket."
Nearby businesses saw similar bumps, leaving property owners scrambling to file appeals, hire an appraiser or seek legal advice.
Some speculate the spikes are connected to the redevelopment of nearby gravel-pit land into the mixed-use Eaglewood Village. That work has barely begun and buildings have yet to sprout.
It's more likely due to catch-up, said Davis County Assessor Jim Ivie.
"The big jump is a result of commercial areas not having been reappraised for a long time," Ivie said.
Davis County has bolstered its assessment system with two new computer programs that update all residential properties each year. Similar programs will soon be in place for the county's commercial properties too, Ivie said.
In the meantime, Ivie urges folks to appeal values they feel are incorrect.
This is where Williams feels fortunate. Last year he paid $4,200 to have his six-acre business property appraised - the value came in at $1.7 million. That document serves as the basis of his appeal.
Maxine Greenwood - owner of Greenwood Kennels at 180 S. Highway 89 - plans to appeal, even though she hates the idea of paying out $800 to get an appraisal done.
Last year the county valued her 1.8 acres and two buildings at $528,211. This year her taxable value hit $1,081,840. That means she has to pay $10,355 instead of $4,539.
"I told them that if the value of my property is $1.08 million, they just bought it," Greenwood joked.
In reality, Greenwood has no plans to sell, because of her devotion to dog-breeding. That grandfathered use would disappear if her property changes hands.
For more than four decades, Paul Bailey has owned Universal Grinding across from Greenwood at 185 S. Highway 89.
"My taxes increased 64 percent this year" - from $165 per month to $500, Bailey said.
"To pay that much . . . we'd have to go out of business."
While lawmakers are spending most of their off season studying a variety of tax reforms, some Utahns hope for a shift from market-based to acquisition-based property assessments. Such a change would mean assessed value is tied to actual sales price and yearly increases get capped at the rate of inflation.
That kind of major change would shift the tax burden to young families buying homes, said Senate President John Valentine.
It would also require voter approval to amend the state Constitution, he added, something that cannot be done on a whim.
Lawmakers would have to support such a move by a two-thirds majority and then turn it over to voters to decide at the next general election in 2010.
Tax appeals
* Sept. 15 is the deadline to appeal property tax valuations. In Davis County, this year's number of appeals have outpaced last year's.
Of Davis' 2,656 appeals in 2007, 2,079 were successful.
