Could you imagine losing the home you’ve raised your family in and worked hard to maintain at the age of 75? Unfortunately, in Utah, this was a real possibility for many of the state’s elderly.
With home values on the rise across the state, property taxes were rising as well. In fact, since 2019, residents in some cities, such as Ogden and Brigham City, saw property tax increases of 25 to 70 percent.
This increase in property tax placed a huge burden on the elderly. With such egregious property taxes, this group was being left with little money to attend to other necessities, like health care and transportation.
Utah’s seniors needed a reliable source of property tax relief. A statewide property tax deferment program was the solution. The law we helped create allows homeowners, over the age of 75, with an income of less than $65,000 a year, to apply to forgo the payment of property tax until the sale of their home or a transfer of ownership takes place.
Basically this defers the tax obligation until a future date, so that a cash-poor but house-rich senior citizen can stay in the home without having to worry. Senior citizens shouldn’t have to worry that they can’t afford to pay to live in the home they own—and now they don’t have to.
