Being also a Salt Lake County resident, I read Barbara Person’s opinion letter with some interest. And while I agree that it doesn’t “feel” good to pay increasing property taxes with no visible service improvements, a cursory review of the data suggests things are working as they should.
I derived Barbara’s current annual property tax amount from my own and computed the annual growth rate based on her stated $600 increase. This works out to be 2.9 percent — which happens to match the 10-year average rate of inflation according to usinflationcalculator.com.
It’s amazing to me that even with the explosive growth in our area, property taxes have tracked inflation.
It sucks that she’s on a fixed income (although I think she may have a rental property as well), so perhaps there is a legitimate inequity that needs to be solved there. But I’m grateful for the wise stewardship of our local taxing authorities. It appears we have thus far avoided large increases experienced by residents in the rural parts of our state.
Anthony G. Nielson, Herriman