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…