Utah Commercial Property Tax Appeals
Utah revalues every property, every year, at 100% of market value — and gives you one September deadline to push back. Here is the full calendar, the real tax rates by county, and what the appeal data actually shows.
Your Value Sets Your Share
Utah's property tax runs on a certified tax rate system — Truth in Taxation. As countywide values rise, each taxing entity's rate floats down so that higher values don't automatically mean more revenue. The system is revenue-neutral by design.
That has a consequence most owners never hear: your assessment doesn't determine how much the county collects — it determines your share of it. An overvalued building doesn't just overpay in the abstract; it subsidizes every correctly-assessed property in the same tax area. And because Utah reassesses every year, an uncorrected value compounds annually — there is no "off year" where the error rests.
The flip side: every year is a fresh appeal window. Commercial property is taxed on 100% of fair market value as of January 1, apartment properties on roughly 55% where units are occupied as primary residences. One number — the assessor's market value — is the entire case, and it is appealable every single year.
Every Date That Matters
Utah compresses the entire county-level appeal into one late-summer window. The owners who win are the ones whose evidence is built before the notice arrives.
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January 1Lien dateThe valuation date. Everything in your appeal — sales, income, occupancy, condition — is measured as of January 1 of the tax year.
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Late JulyValuation notices mailedCounties mail the Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes (statutorily by July 22). This is the number to scrutinize — compare it against income performance and January sales evidence immediately.
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September 15County Board of Equalization deadlineThe deadline to appeal to the county BOE (or 45 days after the notice, if later). This single date is the gate to every further remedy — miss it and the year is essentially locked in.
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FallBOE hearings & decisionsCounties hear and decide appeals through the fall. Larger commercial cases typically go to a hearing officer; documentary evidence and a credible valuation narrative decide most of them.
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+30 days from BOE decisionUtah State Tax CommissionThirty days to escalate to the State Tax Commission — mediation first, then formal hearing. Many of Utah's largest commercial reductions happen here, one to two years after the original filing. Commission decisions can proceed to district court.
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November 30Taxes dueProperty taxes are due even while an appeal is pending — reductions won later come back as refunds or credits.
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January 1Lien date — and the exemptionEquipment is assessed to whoever holds it at noon January 1. Below $30,100 in aggregate per county (the 2026 indexed figure), everything is exempt — and once exemption is established, no annual re-filing is required (UCA 59-2-1115). Non-critical items under $500 acquisition cost are exempt regardless.
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From February 1Signed statement requests mailCounty assessors begin mailing personal property signed-statement requests in February — five months before real property owners hear anything.
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May 15Statement due and tax due — the same dayUtah bills personal property in the year it’s assessed: the signed statement and the payment share the May 15 deadline (Salt Lake County filers get the later of May 15 or 60 days after the request). Unpaid balances accrue 9.5% interest in 2026. Skip the filing and the penalty is the greater of $25 or 10% of the tax — and after a second notice, the assessor’s estimate becomes final and unappealable.
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+60 days from tax noticeCounty board appealThe personal property appeal clock runs 60 days from the tax notice — typically wrapping up months before real property’s September window even opens. From the county board, 30 days to the State Tax Commission.
Dates shift when notices mail late — SVA tracks each county's actual mailing dates so the 45-day fallback is never missed. Personal property: statements UCA 59-2-306; appeals 59-2-1005; exemption 59-2-1115 (
0,100 for 2026, indexed annually; Pub. 20, Rev. 2/26).Market Value × Taxable Share × Certified Rate
Utah's math is simpler than most states — and less forgiving. There is no assessment ratio buffering commercial owners: the assessor's market value is the taxable value. Multiply by your tax area's certified rate and that's the bill.
The one major carve-out is multifamily. Units occupied as primary residences receive the 45% residential exemption, so a stabilized apartment property is typically taxable on about 55% of market value. Whether that exemption is being applied correctly — and to the right share of units — is itself a recurring appeal issue.
Rates vary meaningfully by county and by tax area within each county — from the mid-0.5% range in Summit County to well over 1.1% in parts of the Wasatch Front. On a $10 million building, that spread is worth tens of thousands of dollars a year, which is why any serious savings estimate starts with your parcel's actual tax area.
| County | Typical 2025 Rate | Range Across Tax Areas | Tax on $10M Commercial |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake | 1.01% | 0.80% – 2.08% | ~$100,500 |
| Utah | 0.96% | 0.77% – 2.50% | ~$96,300 |
| Davis | 1.01% | 0.78% – 1.12% | ~$101,200 |
| Weber | 1.03% | 0.86% – 1.28% | ~$102,600 |
| Washington | 0.73% | 0.58% – 1.70% | ~$72,500 |
| Summit | 0.56% | 0.44% – 1.12% | ~$56,200 |
| Tooele | 1.15% | 1.00% – 1.55% | ~$115,000 |
SVA analysis of the Utah State Tax Commission's 2025 final adopted certified area rates. "Typical" is the median rate across each county's tax areas; your parcel's specific tax area sets the exact rate. Tax shown = $10M market value × median rate, commercial basis.
Appeal Outcomes, Measured
Salt Lake County is the only Utah county that publishes appeal outcomes in its parcel records. SVA analyzed the county's value-history data for appeals decided from 2021 through 2024 — the share that actually won a reduction, by property type:
Two things stand out. First, office appeals succeed about 2.5× as often as industrial — the market dislocation is real, and boards respond to it when the evidence is presented properly. Second, filings are surging: over the same period industrial appeal filings roughly doubled and multifamily filings roughly tripled as values softened.
The takeaway isn't that appeals rarely work — it's that most appeals are filed thin. A one-page objection with no income analysis, no adjusted comparables, and no valuation narrative is what fills the denied pile. The cases that win look like appraisals. That is the work SVA does.
Source: SVA analysis of Salt Lake County assessor value-history records, appeals decided 2021–2024 (later-year State Tax Commission outcomes still pending are excluded). Success rates describe the county data set, not SVA engagements, and are not a guarantee of any outcome.
Common Questions
Is your Utah assessment your fair share?
Before September 15, we'll review your valuation notice against income performance, comparable evidence, and your tax area's actual rate — free, and we'll tell you honestly whether an appeal makes sense.
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