Wasatch County property owners sue Wasatch County, state tax commission for ‘unfair taxation’

The Wasatch County Administration Building. Photo: TownLift // Will Scadden

'We feel as though the agencies that are responsible for our well being and fair taxation have not done their job, and we want to ask the courts to basically compel them to do their job correctly, according to state statute,' William Quapp said.

WASATCH COUNTY, Utah — Several Wasatch County property owners are suing both Wasatch County and the Utah State Tax Commission citing unfair taxation and misconduct.

The initial complaint centers on what the petitioners claim to be the failures of both Griffin and the Utah State Tax Commission to fully appraise and assess all properties located within Wasatch County, resulting in inequitable taxation. 

According to Quapp, who serves on the Architectural Review Committee for the Big Pole Estates Homeowners Association, the issue began when he received his preliminary tax notice in the summer of 2022.

“When I opened up and read the preliminary tax notice, my assessed value had gone up 166% and my taxes went up 112%,” Quapp said. “Well, that was a pretty big pill to swallow. The dollar value was from around $3,000 to $6,500 in one swoop.”

Quapp then began to research other local property owner’s assessments using Wasatch County’s Property Tax Information Lookup System.

“I ended up finishing about 111 properties and found that there was a pattern, that many people in different subdivisions had gotten reassessed with very large increases,” “Quapp said. “And there were some subdivisions that got no change in their tax value, so that caused me to wonder, why?”

Although Utah State Code requires that the assessor update property values annually, Quapp’s research led him to believe that reassessments were not conducted for approximately 8,869 Wasatch County properties in 2022. This  would have resulted in those property owners paying about 20% less than they would have paid in property taxes had their properties been reassessed.

The petitioners also asked the court to order that the Utah State Tax Commission remedy the incomplete assessments in Wasatch County as well as any associated inequitable tax burdens, and for an award of attorney’s fees and costs.

“We feel as though the agencies that are responsible for our well being and fair taxation have not done their job, and we want to ask the courts to basically compel them to do their job correctly, according to state statute,” Quapp said.

An amended petition dated Dec. 19 adds both Wasatch County and Jon Woodard, deputy county attorney for Wasatch County, as defendants. It asks that Woodard and the County be barred from interfering with Big Pole Estates’ tax appeal, and also asks that Griffin be removed from office for misconduct and neglect of duty.

Defendants from both Wasatch County and the Utah State Tax Commission have filed to dismiss the case.

Griffin declined to comment due to the ongoing litigation.