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Coalville mayoral candidate’s primary residence is in city, assessor says

Lynn Wood says her family previously also lived in Salt Lake for personal reasons

The Summit County Assessor’s Office has determined that Coalville mayoral candidate Lynn Wood’s primary residence is in Coalville, the outcome of a periodic audit that raised questions about Wood’s residency status as she vies with Mark Marsh to be the next leader of the city.

Wood said she and her husband moved full-time to their current home in Coalville last September after splitting time between another residence in Coalville and one in Salt Lake County.

She said her husband has lived in the city for more than 30 years and that she has been an active member in the community since they married nearly 15 years ago. Wood said one of the reasons her family in recent years purchased a home in Salt Lake County was to be closer to a hospital where her husband was being treated.



“It’s not comfortable,” she said of talking about the personal reasons for living part-time in Coalville for a period. “I talked about that with my husband. It’s certainly something that we wanted to explain why we were not here permanently all the time these past few years.”

Mayoral candidates are required to live in Coalville for 12 months prior to Election Day. Wood said she signed an attestation that she met that requirement and indicated it had not been officially challenged.



Coalville City Attorney Sheldon Smith said the city had a period to challenge the assertion and indicated it had not done so. He indicated Wood would be able to continue her candidacy.

Wood said she’s been considering running for mayor for more than a year and made sure her residency status complied with the law.

“I thought about it clear that far back,” she said. “I wanted that option to be available.”

There are two issues with the residency question, Wood said: Whether she is eligible to run for mayor — “Absolutely,” she said — and whether her family was inappropriately receiving two primary residential exemptions for property taxes.

In Utah, owners of secondary homes pay 100% of property taxes, while primary residents pay 55% of property taxes on their homes. A primary resident is defined as someone who lives for 183 consecutive days in a home and pays income taxes there, among other requirements, Summit County Assessor Stephanie Poll said.

Wood was receiving a primary residence exemption on her home in Coalville as well as in the Salt Lake Valley.

Poll said that her staff was performing a periodic audit that had “absolutely nothing to do with the election” when they found the two Wood residences were receiving the exemption. Poll said there are certain instances where that is allowed by law, including when a home is rented to people who use it as their primary residence.

Poll’s staffers requested an updated proof of residency from the Woods, which the office received Aug. 27. The assessor’s office granted the primary home exemption for Woods’ Coalville home three days later.

Wood said Salt Lake County officials on Thursday deemed the primary exemption there was permitted, as well, because the long-term tenants occupying the home meet residency requirements.

Wood said if the legitimacy of her candidacy was in serious jeopardy, someone would have taken it up with city officials.

“I think that it’s a blatant attempt to just throw some doubt on me,” she said.

She added she’d rather the campaign focus on issues affecting the city, like contending with increasing growth.

Summit County


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