Hill AFB housing now tax exempt

FARMINGTON (Deseret News) — Three months after denying an exemption for property taxes for the military housing at Hill Air Force Base, Davis County commissioners reversed that decision Tuesday.

The 2-1 vote followed a presentation by Boyer Hill Military Housing, which operates, builds and maintains the 1,018 houses at Hill Air Force Base, and counter-arguments by Deputy Davis County Attorney Craig Bott.

Boyer Hill's attorney, Robert Lochhead, argued that even though Boyer Hill holds title to all of the homes at Hill, the U.S. Air Force, a tax-exempt entity, owns the land they sit on and controls access to the base, determines rent allocations and has final say over designs of the homes.

"Boyer Hill has just enough ownership to go out and get a loan against it," Lochhead said.

Bott argued that Boyer Hill is a for-profit company that owns the homes, maintains them, has full use of them and bears the risk for them.

Boyer Hill made an appeal to the Utah State Tax Commission following the commissioners' denial of exemption in June, Bott said.

"By making that appeal to the tax commission, Boyer Hill is asserting they are the owner of the property," Bott said.

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