FLDS Members May Be Evicted If They Refuse To Pay Taxes On Trust Property

While the federal courts are deciding whether Utah courts acted constitutionally in issuing orders to reform the United Effort Plan Trust of the FLDS Church (see prior posting), a Utah state court last week ruled that the court-appointed fiduciary for the trust can evict residents who have not paid property taxes and occupancy fees on homes owned by the Trust which they occupy.  Around 143 of the 176 parcels in the twin towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz. have some back taxes due on them. Thursday's Salt Lake Tribune reports that court-appointed fiduciary Bruce Wissan fears that if action is not taken, some of the properties will go up for tax sales within 18 months.  He says that rather than losing the properties, he will allocate them to other individuals who will pay taxes and fees. The tax situation is complicated by the fact that some parcels contain several homes, so that a delinquency by one places the entire parcel in arrears.  Also, residents hesitate to pay the back taxes because if a federal court decision invalidating Utah's reformation of the Trust is upheld, particularly the non-FLDS members who have been allocated homes may lose them when Trust administration is returned to the Church. (See prior related posting.)