R884-24P-38. Nonoperating Railroad Properties Pursuant to Utah Code Ann. Section 59-2-201

(1)(a) "Railroad right of way" (RR-ROW) means a strip of land upon which a railroad company constructs the road bed.

(b) RR-ROW within incorporated towns and cities shall consist of 50 feet on each side of the main line main track, branch line main track or main spur track. Variations to the 50-foot standard shall be approved on an individual basis.

(c) RR-ROW outside incorporated towns and cities shall consist of the actual right-of-way owned if not in excess of 100 feet on each side of the center line of the main line main track, branch line main track, or main spur track. In cases where unusual conditions exist, such as mountain cuts, fills, etc., and more than 100 feet on either side of the main track is required for ROW and where small parcels of land are otherwise required for ROW purposes, the necessary additional area shall be reported as RR-ROW.

(2) Assessment of nonoperating railroad properties. Railroad property formerly assessed by the unitary method that has been determined to be nonoperating, and that is not necessary to the conduct of the business, shall be assessed separately by the local county assessor.

(3) Assessment procedures.

(a) Properties charged to nonoperating accounts are reviewed by the Property Tax Division, and if taxable, are assessed and placed on the local county assessment rolls separately from the operating properties.

(b) RR-ROW is considered operating and necessary to the conduct and contributing to the income of the business. Any revenue derived from leasing of property within the RR-ROW is considered railroad operating revenues.

(c) Real property outside of the RR-ROW that is necessary to the conduct of the railroad operation is considered part of the unitary value. Some examples are:

(i) company homes occupied by superintendents and other employees on 24-hour call;

(ii) storage facilities for railroad operations;

(iii) communication facilities; and

(iv) spur tracks outside of RR-ROW.

(d) Abandoned RR-ROW is considered nonoperating and shall be reported as such by the railroad companies.

(e) Real property outside of the RR-ROW that is not necessary to the conduct of the railroad operations is classified as nonoperating and therefore assessed by the local county assessor. Some examples are:

(i) land leased to service station operations;

(ii) grocery stores;

(iii) apartments;

(iv) residences; and

(v) agricultural uses.

(f) RR-ROW obtained by government grant or act of Congress is deemed operating property.

(4) Notice of Determination. It is the responsibility of the Property Tax Division to provide a notice of determination to the owner of the railroad property and the assessor of the county where the railroad property is located immediately after such determination of operating or nonoperating status has been made. If there is no appeal to the notice of determination, the Property Tax Division shall notify the assessor of the county where the property is located so that the property may be placed on the roll for local assessment.

(5) Appeals. Any interested party who wishes to contest the determination of operating or nonoperating property may do so by filing a request for agency action within ten days of the notice of determination of operating or nonoperating properties. Request for agency action may be made pursuant to Title 63G, Chapter 4.