SB197 is among the pile of bills sitting on Governor Cox’s desk sent there by the Utah legislature hoping for a signature while also being one that opponents are urging the Governor to VETO. SB197 is titled ‘Property Tax Amendments’ and passed the House 42-32 and the Senate 18-7. If signed, SB197 will remove a tax relief program that helps seniors on a fixed income, something that is being opposed around the state by vocal public officials which includes Uintah County Treasurer Wendi Long. In a letter to Governor Cox, Long explains her opposition, stating, “This bill will eliminate the circuit breaker tax relief program for seniors on a fixed income. The circuit breaker program has been in place for over 40 years and is designed to assist seniors over the age of 66 and on a fixed income of less than $40,000 a year in paying all or a portion of their property tax. In Uintah County we have 258 homeowners on this program. The average value of a home for these individuals is $259,250. The sponsor of this bill stated that these individuals are ‘house rich.’ As you can see, this is not the case. He used an example of a woman on the circuit breaker program who is living in an $800,000 home and implied this is the norm. It is not. SB197 will force these individuals to use a deferral program instead which will defer their property taxes to the heirs of their property. I don’t know of any elderly person that has worked their whole life and has stayed in their home that would want to pass on a tax burden to their children. The tax deferral program is very convoluted and is administratively cumbersome to track and implement by using different interest rates and placing the counties in the position of lien holders. It would also complicate matters worse if the individual has a mortgage company.” Uintah County Treasurer Wendi Long is among other public officials around Utah with similar concerns for how SB197 will affect low-income seniors, widows, and the disabled. Governor Cox had not yet made an action on SB197 as of this story’s print.
