Property tax lawsuit moves forward in Wasatch County

Photo: Wasatch County Court

A lawsuit alleges that the county assessor’s errors caused inequity in tax increases

WASATCH COUNTY – A group of Wasatch County property owners filed suit against Assessor Todd Griffin, the county, and the Utah State Tax Commission, claiming improper 2022 property assessments led to unequal tax burdens. Wasatch County only reappraised around 59% of the properties in the county for 2022 taxes and court documents said about a third of the county’s properties were assessed based on their 2021 values, while a third of them maintained 2021 values.

Properties that were reappraised had an average market value increase of roughly 87% for improved properties and 284% for unimproved properties.

Because the reappraisal was not county-wide the assessed values of Wasatch County are largely undercalculated, a court document claimed.

“An inequitable tax was therefore applied because certain properties were taxed based upon higher assessments and other properties were taxed based upon stale and dated assessments,” the document states. “This places a higher tax burden on property owners who had their property assessed in 2022.”

The Utah State Tax Commission is also being sued because the plaintiffs said it has failed to fulfill its oversight obligations and refused to correct the errors.

Court ruling: Judge Anthony Howell largely denied motions to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed. The court found that about 8,869 properties weren’t reassessed in 2022, leading to inequities. Griffin’s possible removal will require a separate filing, but his term is nearing its end as he was eliminated in the primary election.

Next steps: The lawsuit enters discovery, with plaintiffs seeking accountability for tax errors and oversight failures.

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