First Substitute S.B. 157

Senator Curtis S. Bramble proposes the following substitute bill:

1 PROPERTY TAX REVISIONS
2 2011 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Chief Sponsor: Curtis S. Bramble
5 House Sponsor: Patrick Painter
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill enacts a provision relating to property taxes.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 . authorizes the State Tax Commission to enter into agreements with commercial or
13 industrial taxpayers providing for equal property tax payments if specified
14 conditions are met;
15 . authorizes the commission to revise, accelerate, or cancel equal payment
16 agreements for specified reasons; and
17 . requires the State Tax Commission to promulgate rules to ensure that payments
18 under an equal payment contract do not affect the certified tax rate calculation.
19 Money Appropriated in this Bill:
20 None
21 Other Special Clauses:
22 None
23 Utah Code Sections Affected:
24 ENACTS:
25 59-2-1308.5, Utah Code Annotated 1953

26
27 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
28 Section 1. Section 59-2-1308.5 is enacted to read:
29 59-2-1308.5. Equal payment agreements.
30 (1) The commission may enter into an agreement with a commercial or industrial
31 taxpayer assessed by the commission to provide for equal, or approximately equal, property tax
32 payments over a reasonable period of years, not to exceed five years, if:
33 (a) the payment schedule is based on an accepted valuation methodology that
34 reasonably estimates the property's anticipated fair market value over the period of the
35 proposed equal payments;
36 (b) the agreement includes a provision making the initial equal payment schedule
37 subject to an annual adjustment, as necessary, to account for differences between the property's
38 fair market value as of the annual lien date and the property's fair market value that formed the
39 basis of the initial equal payment schedule;
40 (c) the commission, the taxpayer, and each affected county approve the agreement; and
41 (d) the total amount the taxpayer pays under the agreement is no less than the amount
42 the taxpayer would have paid in the absence of the agreement.
43 (2) (a) Subject to Subsection (2)(b), a tax lien under this chapter against the taxpayer's
44 property is not affected by a payment pursuant to an agreement under this section to the extent
45 of the difference between the amount the taxpayer would have been required to pay in the
46 absence of the agreement and the amount of the payment under the agreement.
47 (b) For purposes of enforcing a tax lien under this chapter, a taxpayer's failure to pay
48 the full amount of taxes that the taxpayer would have been required to pay in the absence of an
49 agreement under this section does not constitute a failure to pay the full amount of taxes owing:
50 (i) if the taxpayer pays the full amount of the payment owing under the agreement; and
51 (ii) unless the taxpayer:
52 (A) files for bankruptcy;
53 (B) transfers ownership of the property that is the subject of the property taxes; or
54 (C) has a change in ownership and the new owner does not assume all responsibility
55 and liability under the agreement.
56 (3) (a) The commission may revise, accelerate, or cancel an equal payment agreement

57 under this section to the same extent and for the same reasons that the commission may revise,
58 accelerate, or cancel an installment agreement under Section 59-1-1004 .
59 (b) The commission shall give the taxpayer reasonable notice of its intent to revise or
60 cancel an equal payment agreement under this section.
61 (4) The commission shall promulgate rules to ensure that tax revenue derived from
62 payments pursuant to an agreement under this section do not affect the calculation of the
63 certified tax rate under Section 59-2-924 .