Summit County taxes are getting too high, and that will start impacting everything

There was a time where taxes around Park City were low. That’s no longer the case. Personally, my home’s property taxes have more than doubled in ten years. I know people across Summit County are feeling the same thing. It’s getting out of control.

Yes, I get that there is inflation. inflation should be at 1-2% per year over that period.

Yet, I don’t feel like I am getting any more services than I did a decade ago. I received a Jeremy Ranch roundabout which seems more dangerous each time I drive through it. Yes, it does seem to help Eastbound traffic at the off-ramp at 5 PM, but that’s about it. Otherwise, every interaction with it and the Quarry village roundabout causes me stress.

There is High Valley micro-transit, which is basically free-Uber via minivan. You and I subsidize that. In a perfect world, High Valley Transit would take people to the closest bus stop, but in our incarnation, they take you where you want to go and gladly accept the tip to get you there. It actually increases traffic on our roads.

Summit County has its own bus system. We paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to have our own transportation system. It’s led to a worse solution for people in Silver Springs. They’ll directly experience that come this winter.

My property values have gone up, but if I’m not selling my house, my increased home value doesn’t mean much to me.

However, the extra property tax bill does.

On top of that, The Park City School District voted to put a $79 million dollar bond on the ballot. If your house has a taxable value of $945K, it will cost you an extra $100 a year in taxes. By the way, they want about double that and will likely finance the additional portion in another way. So, now you are paying another $200 a year — or more because your house is likely valued at twice that amount. That payment goes on for 20+ years.

Summit County also wants an additional $50 million for open space purchases. That’s likely about $90 per year per $1 million residences. That will be on the ballot in November and will also go on for 20+ years.

Our friends in Francis may have to endure a 31% property tax increase to fix roads. It’s about $100 a year in additional taxes for an average house.

I’m sure we are all for more open space. I’m sure many of us are for better schools. I’m sure most are for repairing our roads before they fall apart.

Yet, at some point, in totality, it becomes too much.

It’s not enough to say, “Trust me, give me $80 million because we had mutliple commitees looking at schools.” Likewise, the community has always been for open space. Yet, at some point the collective bill becomes too much.

I think we are nearing that point.

Bad things will happen because individually everyone thinks their cause is pure. However, collectively it becomes too much.