Commissioners uphold hearing officer, deny valuation change request from Pavant Solar

The Millard County Board of Equalization (BOE) voted to uphold the hearing officer’s recommendation and deny a request from Pavant Solar to change the assessed value of its personal property.

County staff explained that personal property assessments for centrally assessed or complex equipment follow a state-published scale, and the hearing officer recommended no change. The appellant, represented by Rebecca Autry Davis, argued that some inverters and components were nonfunctional or obsolete; county staff and the contracted commercial appraiser, Dan Johnson, explained the state scale already includes depreciation and that nonworking units do not automatically reduce the assessed value because taxpayers are expected to repair equipment to resume production. The presenter said the requested reduction would represent a material dollar change to the tax roll.

The hearing officer’s written recommendation, included in the packet, found no change to the assessor’s methodology and recommended that the value remain the same. Commissioners said the state tax commission sets the scale and rates and that a state-level hearing would be the proper venue if the appellant sought further relief. After discussion, a commissioner moved and another seconded to accept the hearing officer’s recommendation; the motion passed on a voice vote.

Staff said if the appellant pursues appeal of the BOE decision, the matter would go to the Utah State Tax Commission. The board also approved two assessor adjustments noted in the packet (corrections for two parcels: one reclassified from buildable to nonbuildable and one split that required reassignment), and those corrections will be finalized by notice of determination to property owners.