Utah County commissioners approve 5-year deferral for rollback tax appeal; refunds to be issued annually

The Utah County Commission on June 14 approved a five-year deferral for a rollback tax assessment on property owned by Rich Bowman, voting 3–0 to authorize annual refunds equal to one-fifth of the eligible amount beginning for the 2022 tax year.

Bowman appeared before the commission to ask that the rollback penalty be abated entirely. "An $8,000 rollback tax is, you know, obviously, it's pretty disheartening," Bowman said, describing the financial strain on his household after his mortgage company paid the assessment to avoid a lien and then added the cost to his mortgage. Bowman said he and his wife are retired and on fixed incomes and asked commissioners to relieve the penalty rather than require a five-year deferral.

County staff described the property as having about 1.23 acres that no longer qualified and roughly 4.07 acres that still qualify for urban farming. The county property tax officer (identified in the transcript as Speaker 5) said the office's recommendation was to deny the request as written but noted that the tax office and the county have used five-year deferral agreements in similar cases. The officer explained how refunds would be structured if the applicant had already paid: "after a year, we would refund a fifth," and that the county could recoup previously refunded amounts if the property later ceased to qualify.

Ben Stanley of the county attorney's office noted a recent change in state law. "House Bill 397" passed and "has language that said that a transition from a green belt to an urban farm would not be [subject to the rollback tax]," Stanley said, while cautioning that courts could later interpret the bill's language in ways that affect implementation. Commissioners said the new state law weighed in favor of leniency for this case because, had the law been in effect at the time of the rollback, the assessment might not have been imposed.

Given those factors, the commission moved instead to authorize a five-year deferral agreement that will return one-fifth of the eligible amount to the property owner each year. Commissioner action on the motion was recorded as passing 3–0. Under the agreement described in the meeting, Bowman should receive an immediate partial refund for the 2022 tax year (about $1,200) and roughly the same refund annually for the next four years, with refunds directed to the mortgage company if it had paid the assessment; if the property later leaves the urban farming program the county can collect the previously abated rollback.

The commission directed staff to prepare the deferral/refund agreement and forward the documents to the parties for signatures; staff indicated the matter could be brought back for formal execution in the coming weeks. The motion and vote covered item 32 on the agenda and were the last actionable items before the commission moved to closed session.

Public comment at the meeting included a separate remark urging the county to follow a state law change on the state flag (Senate Bill 31) that becomes effective March 2024. Thomas Cook told the commission that flying the current flag gave "the appearance of double standards" and urged compliance with laws as written.

The commission adjourned following the public comment period.