Relocators! How do you like Utah so far? (St. George, Washington: sales, buy)

[Kat1996]

My husband says "Oh my scary".

His ex-gf would say darnit and then apologize for her language.

[Ronp100343]

Friggen' fricken

[The Casselli's]

All those who agree say "IIII" wonderful!

Originally Posted by dogmom

Kat...I see you've just joined this conversation...yes there are many of us who moved here to utah, north and south, from other places..yes..we knew it was heavily mormon. What we didn't know is the treatment we 'heathens' would receive from our neighbors and others we deal with. No one tells you that Utah is it's own little bubble and if you are not LDS you aren't going to fit in that bubble. It has been a huge adjustment, coming from places where we were not discriminated against. I still don't get it, don't understand it, probably will never understand it, and lately, I just dont give a flying ...whatever. You insert a word. We are trying to get along with everyone and thankfully meeting others like ourselves who have also been shocked at the treatment.

No bashing going on, I am done with that...but no one tells you what its really like here in the pretty brochures and real estate articles.

[philiplo]

Originally Posted by Kat1996

I am really disturbed by the LDS bashing on here. I am LDS but honestly have no desire to live in Utah because it is a fishbowl if you belong to the church. I find it humorous that so many people have commented on how "ridiculous" it is that there are so many Mormons and so many Mormon churches. Uh SLC was settled by Mormons because they were driven out of several states because of their beliefs. That is like being upset because there are so many Catholic churches in Italy or a huge population of Baptists in the south.

While I get along well with my neighbors, the number of LDS churches around here continues to amaze me. I've been to the south, and nowhere did I see a similar situation (some day I'll get to Italy and look for those cathedrals). There are now five (5) LDS churches within 1.8 miles of my home. That's actual travel distance. If it were "as the crow flies" we could probably add a couple more to the total.

People say it doesn't do any harm to have so many, but I disagree. Every piece of land that has a church on it is removed from the tax rolls. They continue to utilize city services, but don't help pay for them. That's true for all churches, of course, but there aren't any other denominations anywhere near my home.

I believe Washington City has one Baptist church and 15 LDS churches. I don't recall seeing any other denomination.

[SergeantL]

Originally Posted by philiplo

While I get along well with my neighbors, the number of LDS churches around here continues to amaze me. I've been to the south, and nowhere did I see a similar situation (some day I'll get to Italy and look for those cathedrals). There are now five (5) LDS churches within 1.8 miles of my home. That's actual travel distance. If it were "as the crow flies" we could probably add a couple more to the total.

People say it doesn't do any harm to have so many, but I disagree. Every piece of land that has a church on it is removed from the tax rolls. They continue to utilize city services, but don't help pay for them. That's true for all churches, of course, but there aren't any other denominations anywhere near my home.

When I lived in Godless California, I couldn't go half a mile without seeing some sort of church. My family is from Alabama and there is the same concentration of churches there as there are in Utah or California, but they are not LDS. LDS Churches are easily identifiable by there distinctive architecture, but it is difficult to tell the various mainstream Christian churches apart. Furthermore, in many areas, mainstream Christian churches may be located in non-traditional places, such as industrial, commercial, or old retail buildings. In short there are no fewer mainstream churches in other states as there are LDS in Utah.

Any church pays for its services, such as water, sewer, and power. Anytime a church is built, it must pay for all development and hookup fees. The only thing a church does not pay is property taxes; however, how much public service does a church require? Unless a crime is committed on the property or there is a fire, it is not receiving public services, and since no one normally lives in the church, the likelihood it will need emergency services is low. Also keep in the mind that members of any church are paying property taxes, which more than offsets any loss in revenue from the church property. Finally, since religion is excluded from participation in government, taxing church assets would be unfair and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. This is one reason why the separate but equal doctrines were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court many years ago.

[dogmom]

Originally Posted by SergeantL

When I lived in Godless California, I couldn't go half a mile without seeing some sort of church. My family is from Alabama and there is the same concentration of churches there as there are in Utah or California, but they are not LDS. LDS Churches are easily identifiable by there distinctive architecture, but it is difficult to tell the various mainstream Christian churches apart. Furthermore, in many areas, mainstream Christian churches may be located in non-traditional places, such as industrial, commercial, or old retail buildings. In short there are no fewer mainstream churches in other states as there are LDS in Utah.

Any church pays for its services, such as water, sewer, and power. Anytime a church is built, it must pay for all development and hookup fees. The only thing a church does not pay is property taxes; however, how much public service does a church require? Unless a crime is committed on the property or there is a fire, it is not receiving public services, and since no one normally lives in the church, the likelihood it will need emergency services is low. Also keep in the mind that members of any church are paying property taxes, which more than offsets any loss in revenue from the church property. Finally, since religion is excluded from participation in government, taxing church assets would be unfair and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. This is one reason why the separate but equal doctrines were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court many years ago.

I don't know how many LDS churches there are in Washington City, any kind of churches, but the fact that no property taxes is just not right...on any church. I guess I am feeling this way because we just got a notice from the city that our electricity is going up 30%. Can you imagine that??? Just like that..I don't recall getting anything about a public hearing, not to say there wasn't some little blurb somewhere, but for something like that every residence should have received notice in the US mail. I have no idea how we are going to be able to pay that extra, we are on a fixed income here. And of course, they can milk it for all it's worth in the summer when it's hotter than hades here.

Well, I just needed to vent here...30%!!!!!! Aaargh

[Blondie-Rabbit]

We are on the Hurricane power grid. They have their own power plant. We didn't see and increase, and we pay lower amounts than the rest of the county. As for the no property taxes, how about they pay the taxes, then all the people that receive assistance for food and welfare that tyhe LDS church does for it's own can go on the government dole. I'm sure that around here that would be far more money paid out on the assistance than the taxes could ever hope to be. There is a reason that most churches are deserving of not paying taxes. Then there are some that are only in existance to make the founders rich.

If you want really wild church concentrations, go to Page AZ. and look at church row on the main drag south of the main part of town. Back in the late 70's early 80's it had 23 churches for a town of around 1500 people. Only one of them was LDS.

[dogmom]

Originally Posted by Blondie-Rabbit

We are on the Hurricane power grid. They have their own power plant. We didn't see and increase, and we pay lower amounts than the rest of the county. As for the no property taxes, how about they pay the taxes, then all the people that receive assistance for food and welfare that tyhe LDS church does for it's own can go on the government dole. I'm sure that around here that would be far more money paid out on the assistance than the taxes could ever hope to be. There is a reason that most churches are deserving of not paying taxes. Then there are some that are only in existance to make the founders rich.

If you want really wild church concentrations, go to Page AZ. and look at church row on the main drag south of the main part of town. Back in the late 70's early 80's it had 23 churches for a town of around 1500 people. Only one of them was LDS.

No kidding...23 churches..that is almost worth a field trip to Page!

[golightlygirl]

I sat on the Board of Assessor's in Georgia for years. It is truly crazy to see the amount of exempt properties that are on the tax digest. You probably can find our information (in Washington County, UT) regarding the same at the County's web-site, if they post such things. however, it is public information and anyone can go to the Tax Assessors office and look aqt the digest. It should show you the value of all properties, them you can see whats "Tax Exempt". In Georgia we had a church, that became a school, that became a put put course with a gym! Now it is a diploma mill, yet it still remains tax exempt on the digest. As a board member, I went round and round on that one, however there's more to it than meets the eye, and as in all things American, politics always comes into play! Most tax payers would be surprized to see the exempt property digest, its more than just churches thst escape the clutches of the governing authority.

[dogmom]

Originally Posted by golightlygirl

I sat on the Board of Assessor's in Georgia for years. It is truly crazy to see the amount of exempt properties that are on the tax digest. You probably can find our information (in Washington County, UT) regarding the same at the County's web-site, if they post such things. however, it is public information and anyone can go to the Tax Assessors office and look aqt the digest. It should show you the value of all properties, them you can see whats "Tax Exempt". In Georgia we had a church, that became a school, that became a put put course with a gym! Now it is a diploma mill, yet it still remains tax exempt on the digest. As a board member, I went round and round on that one, however there's more to it than meets the eye, and as in all things American, politics always comes into play! Most tax payers would be surprized to see the exempt property digest, its more than just churches thst escape the clutches of the governing authority.

Hey girl...wanted to check in and say hi!