Cedar Hills enacts new fee
Homeowners to pay in lieu of a property tax
In an effort to make sure all homeowners are paying their share for city services, the City Council voted Tuesday night to enact a fee in lieu of property tax for new construction.
That means homeowners who move in to new properties no longer will be able to avoid paying property taxes until the following year.
New homes increase the demand for city services, but those homeowners have not been required to pay for such services between the time a building permit is issued and the property is placed on the county tax roll, said Rich Knapp, Cedar Hills finance director.
Those costs previously had been subsidized by homeowners in the estimated 8,700-resident bedroom community. Cedar Hills has about 2,000 homes and is growing at a rate of 200 to 250 per year.
"This will make sure (new-construction homeowners) pay their fair share of the cost," Knapp said.
The fee is expected to bring in approximately $18,000 in fiscal year 2007, he said.
Under state statute, counties value property as of Jan. 1 each year, said Utah County Assessor Kris Poulson. Homes built after that annual assessment aren't added to the county tax roll until the next year.
Cedar Hills is not the first Utah County city to collect such a fee. The resolution passed Tuesday night was obtained from Pleasant Grove, which in 1998 enacted what it calls an interim service fee, said Tina Petersen, Pleasant Grove city attorney.
Cedar Hills Councilman Jim Perry said he felt the resolution was poorly written, and he was the lone member of the City Council to vote against it.
"I don't have a problem with collecting that money," Perry said, "but this seems really half-baked."
Because the resolution came from Pleasant Grove and had been approved by an attorney in 1998, Cedar Hills did not have legal counsel review it prior to Tuesday's vote. Mayor Mike McGee said he will have the city's own attorney look over the resolution to ease any concerns.
The fee will be imposed on every new construction that requires an occupancy permit and will cover the time between the issuance of that permit and the property's addition to the county tax roll.
The fee schedule for residential properties will use a formula that takes into account market value, certified tax rate and percent of the year remaining.
E-mail: jpage@desnews.com
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