Valuation Notices

There are certain things to look for which may help you understand how property taxes are calculated and what you can do to adjust the tax amount you owe:

• Every taxing entity has a public hearing each year to set its budget. This budget may affect the amount of property tax you pay. Attending the hearing will help you understand how your tax dollars for that entity are used and gives you the opportunity to ask questions and voice concerns. Fiscal year taxing entities such as cities hold these meetings in May and June; calendar year entities such as counties can hold them starting in October.
• The notice of valuation gives you a date, time, and place for a public hearing of any taxing entity planning to raise its tax rate above the calculated base or “certified” tax rate. You can attend these hearings in person or electronically and voice your concerns.
• If you feel that the assessed value of your property is higher than it is worth, you can appeal that value online, by email, mail, or in person — see the Valuation Appeals page.

Tax relief programs are available for people who are permanently or temporarily blind; senior citizens over 65, widows and widowers of any age, and temporarily or permanently disabled individuals with household income below the state threshold; active or honorably discharged members of the military with a service rating of 10% or more; surviving spouses of service members who died in the course of their duties; and Utah residents in the military who served outside the state for 200 days or more in the prior year.

Visit the Tax Relief page for more information.

• Notifies you of the Assessor's classification and determination of value on your property.
• Informs you of your right to appeal the Assessor's classification and determination of fair market value.
• Compares last year's value and tax to this year.
• Shows the amount of property tax charged by each entity.
• Notifies you of public hearings for taxing entities that plan to increase their tax revenues above the allowed “new growth” amounts.

“ET AL”, “et al”, or “etal” is a legal term for “and others”. Some properties are recorded with a number of different owners and, due to limited space on the notice, it is not always possible to include all recorded owners. If “ET AL” appears on your notice after the name, there are other names with recorded ownership on this property. You may contact the Recorder's Office for a list of all recorded owners on the property.

The parcel number is an identification number for your property. The Utah County Recorder's Office has books showing the dimensions and location of all properties in the county. The first two numbers identify which book your property is in, the next three show the page in that book, and the last four identify which parcel on that page. When contacting the county about your property, it helps to have your parcel number for quicker reference. These maps are also available on the Land Records and Parcel Map pages.

A taxing district is a geographical area. Each area is made up of a number of entities — county, city, school, water district, sewer district, and so on. The entities whose boundaries cover your property make up a geographical area known as a taxing district, which the county assigns a taxing district number.

Many properties in Utah County do not have a physical address. Over the years numerous deeds have been recorded which transfer only a few feet in someone's back yard to their neighbor, which creates a new parcel. Sometimes deeds will not have an accurate description, and a small section of a lot must be given a new land serial number when there is no real address which can be attached to that new number. Much of the agricultural land is also accessed by dirt roads and has no street address.

As part of the responsibility to assess all property within Utah County, county assessors assign a classification designation to all parcels located within the county based on the information in county records. Below are the most common designations and their definitions. View the full designation list or contact the County Assessor's Office if you have questions.

• AGRICULTURAL — vacant or unimproved property that may be used for agricultural purposes. Some property with this designation may qualify for a reduction of its taxable value if it meets the qualification for assessment under the Farmland Assessment Act or the Urban Farming Assessment Act. See the Farmland Assessment page for more information.
• COMMERCIAL — most commercial business properties within the county. Commercial property is taxed at 100% of its assessed market value.
• RES PRIMARY — any single-family residential property that qualifies for a primary residential exemption. The exemption lowers the taxable value of a property from 100% to 55%. This designation applies to owner-occupied properties and rental properties intended for long-term use.
• RP PLUS ACREAGE — any property that qualifies for a primary residential exemption and has more than one acre of land. Utah State law only allows the exemption to be applied to the improvements and up to one acre of land. All land in excess of that first acre is taxed at 100% of its market value.
• SECONDARY RESIDENTIAL — any residential property that does not qualify for a primary residential exemption. Short-term rental properties and recreational properties typically have this designation. Secondary residential properties are taxed at 100% of their market value.
• VACANT — all non-agricultural land that is either unimproved or has had all improvements removed. Vacant land is taxed at 100% of its market value.

For more information about the primary residential exemption, visit the Residential Exemption page.

The date printed by this statement shows the last time the physical components specific to this property were updated in the Assessor's system.

Under Utah Code §59-2-102, “market value” (also referred to as fair market value) is defined as the price at which your property would change hands voluntarily between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under pressure to act, and both possessing full knowledge of the relevant facts.

“Taxable value” starts with that fair market value and then applies any state exemptions or rate adjustments. For example, under Utah Code §59-2-103 residential property receives a 45% exemption from its assessed fair market value. So even if your property's fair market value is $400,000, the taxable value becomes $220,000 after subtracting the exemption.

• Market value — the full, current value of your property in an open, informed market as determined by the County Assessor.
• Taxable value — the portion of that value subject to property tax, after subtracting any applicable exemptions.

Utah County is responsible for notifying you of taxes levied by the various taxing entities, for collecting those taxes, and for distributing the funds to the taxing entities. The following is an explanation of the most common taxing entities and what they use your tax money for. If you have additional questions, visit the Tax Entities page, find an entity's contact information, and contact them directly.

Utah County

Tax money collected for Utah County maintains a number of different programs. In addition to financing the operation of county government, tax dollars are used for law enforcement, the Health Department, public safety, roads, and similar services.

Schools

Utah County has three school districts: the Alpine School District, the Nebo School District, and the Provo City School District. You are charged taxes for one of the three districts depending on the geographic location of your property.

Cities and Towns

If you live within an area that has been incorporated as a city, you are charged a tax for the services provided by that city. For more information about the services a city provides, contact the city directly.

Special Service Areas

Certain areas within Utah County provide a special public service that is unique to that area — dedicated road maintenance, cemeteries, or dedicated law enforcement, for example. Citizens who live within these special service districts are charged property taxes to fund those dedicated services.

Sewer

If you live within the boundaries of a sewer district, you will be assessed a cost for maintaining sewer lines and services. Contact the sewer district shown on your notice if you have questions about sewer service.

Water

Everyone in Utah County is charged property taxes for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. This charge helps pay the cost of collecting and distributing water to the various water districts and large-scale water development projects such as new reservoirs. If the city your property is located in has elected to collect a portion of the cost of culinary water through property tax, you will also see a line item for that charge. Depending on the area, you may also be charged a fee for secondary water by the local water district.

Miscellaneous

For a better understanding of any other taxing entities and their functions, contact those entities directly.

This charge covers the work involved in evaluating, calculating, billing, collecting, and distributing property taxes. The Utah State Legislature requires counties to list this levy separately from normal county operating costs. This helps show the true cost of general county services without mixing in the additional expenses of tax collection.

There are two parts to this levy: a statewide rate and a local rate.

• The Multi-County Assessing and Collecting levy is shared by all property owners in Utah. It funds the Utah State Tax Commission, which is responsible for statewide property tax assessment and collection.
• The Local Assessing and Collecting levy supports the county offices directly involved in assessing and collecting property taxes. These include the Tax Administration division in the Auditor's Office, the County Assessor, the County Recorder, and the County Treasurer.

All Utah property owners — whether you own vacant land, residential, or commercial property — contribute to public services such as education. Under Article XIII, Section 2 of the Utah Constitution, “all tangible property in the State … shall be assessed at a uniform and equal rate in proportion to its fair market value … and taxed at a uniform and equal rate”.

This constitutional provision empowers taxing entities — school districts, cities, and counties — to levy a uniform property tax on all taxable property within their boundaries. These entities do not need to prove that your individual property directly benefits from the services funded by the tax. If your property lies within their geographic jurisdiction, it qualifies for assessment and taxation under this authority.

Depending on the location of your property, you may have more than one charge for water on your notice. Every property owner in Utah County has a charge for the Central Utah Water Conservancy District. If you own property within the boundaries of another water district, you may have a charge for water in that district as well.

See the taxing entity question above, and the Tax Entities page, for a more detailed explanation of those water charges.

In Utah, property taxes are based on where the property is located. Under Article XIII, Section 2 of the Utah Constitution, all taxable property must be assessed and taxed uniformly within a taxing entity's boundaries. This means a taxing entity — such as a school district, city, or county — can charge property tax on any taxable property inside its geographic area, even if the property owner does not directly use or benefit from its services.

For example, if you own vacant land in the Provo School District but your home is in the Nebo School District, you will be taxed by both districts. Even if your children attend Nebo schools, Provo still has the legal authority to tax the vacant land because it lies within Provo's boundaries.

The Valuation Notice does not tell you whether there are delinquent taxes on your property.

The Tax Notice mailed between the middle and end of October carries a message reading “Prior Year Delinquent Tax Information: YEARS: (delinquent tax years) Call Treasurer at (801) 851-8255 for Payoff Amount.” The total amount of delinquent tax is not included in the tax amount listed on the bill. Since past due taxes accrue interest daily and penalties annually, get a payoff amount before sending in a payment.

You can get a total payoff amount by calling the Utah County Treasurer's office directly, or through the online Property Tax Payment page.

The Valuation Notice does not reflect payments made, nor does it show deductions from property tax relief programs. That information is detailed on the Tax Notice mailed between the middle and end of October.

You can also view your current property tax balance by contacting the Utah County Treasurer's office directly, or through the online Property Tax Payment page.

The answer could be one of three reasons:

• There may have been a problem with the deed filed to transfer title of the property, or the deed may never have been recorded.
• The deed to transfer title may have been recorded after the cutoff date for printing the notice.
• If a portion of this property was sold, or if there was any change in description — no matter how insignificant — the name and address on the notice show as they appeared on county records as of January 1st of that year.

Visit the county land records site, or contact the Utah County Recorder directly, for more information.

The most common reason for not receiving a notice is that the Treasurer's Office was not informed of a new address. Any time you change your mailing address or record a deed, notify the Treasurer's Office of your new address for each piece of property you own in Utah County through the Change Mailing Address page.

Other reasons may include:

• A problem with the deed filed to transfer title of the property, or a deed that was never recorded.
• A deed to transfer title, or a change of address card, submitted after the cutoff date for printing the notice.
• If the name or address changed since the first of this year and a portion of the property was sold, or if there was any change in description, the name and address on the notice show as they appeared on the records as of January 1st of that year.
• It may have been lost in the mail. It is rare, but it happens.

For questions about a property deed, visit the Utah County Recorder's site.

Combining two or more properties is possible in certain cases. These qualifications will help you know whether two parcels of real property can be combined under a single county serial number.

• The properties must be contiguous — they touch each other and share a common boundary line.
• Ownership records (property deeds) for both pieces must be identical.
• The properties must be within the same taxing district boundaries.

Visit the Recorder's record actions page for information on how to combine properties.

• Look up the serial number for each property you own. The serial number is at the top of the front page of your Property Valuation Notice, in the “PROPERTY INFORMATION” box.
• Locate your property with the Utah County Parcel Map, the Land Records search, or by visiting the Utah County Recorder's office in person.
• Use the serial number from the Notice of Valuation to locate the information for the property. The county site can provide a mapped location of the property, a fully searchable property abstract of records from 1985 to the current year, and a downloadable copy of all records available online.

If you need access to records older than 1985, the County Recorder's office can help you find them.

Every property owner should receive both a valuation notice and a tax notice. If your property taxes are paid through an escrow account, your bank or mortgage company downloads your tax information directly from the County Treasurer. On your Tax Notice you will see a line that reads “Mortgage Company that requested your tax info:”. If the name of your mortgage company appears, they have already requested the information. If it does not, contact them to confirm they have or will request it.

If you own more than one parcel — such as a small strip of land next to your main property — make sure taxes for those additional parcels are either paid by you or included in the information your mortgage company requests.

A judgment levy is a special, temporary property tax that a city, county, school district, or other taxing entity can add only when a court orders it to pay money in a lawsuit. Instead of taking the cost out of its regular budget, the entity is allowed to charge a small extra levy to cover that specific court judgment.

To use a judgment levy, Utah law requires:

• The judgment must be final and unappealable — the case is completely over.
• The judgment must be large enough: at least $5,000, or 2.5% of the entity's prior year property taxes.
• The taxing entity must hold a public hearing and properly notify taxpayers before the levy is added.

A judgment levy is not a regular tax increase. It is a targeted, legally allowed charge that helps a government entity pay off a court-ordered debt, and it can only be used under strict rules.

The sample notice walks through each figure on the form and what it means. Sample Notice with Explanations.