(A) Primary residence. A PRIMARY RESIDENCE is the location where domicile has been established. DOMICILE is the place where an individual has a true, fixed, permanent home and principal establishment, and to which place he or she has (whenever he or she is absent) the intention of returning. It is the place in which a person has voluntarily fixed the habitation of himself or herself and family, not for a mere special or temporary purpose, but with the present intention of making a permanent home. After domicile has been established, two things are necessary to create a new domicile: first, an abandonment of the old domicile; and second, the intention and establishment of a new domicile. The mere intention to abandon a domicile once established is not of itself sufficient to create a new domicile; before a person can be said to have changed his or her domicile, a new domicile must be shown. Factors or objective evidence determinative of domicile are set forth in Utah Admin. Code R884-24P-52(5).
(B) Apartments, rental housing. To qualify for the residential exemption, a property need not be owner-occupied. Apartments and other rental housing used as a primary residence of the occupants qualify for the residential exemption in accordance with § 34.21 of this code. A primary residence does not include property used for transient residential use or condominiums used in rental pools. In addition to other evidence of domicile, only the primary residence that is occupied more than six months out of the year qualifies for the residential exemption. The residential exemption is limited to up to one acre of land per residential dwelling unit on a single property description.
(C) Commercial properties. A partial exemption may be applied against the property taxes of mixed commercial and residential property, but it is presumed that the entire property is commercial. This presumption may be rebutted by the filing of the application (referred to under § 34.21 of this code) every year, which includes evidence of domicile of each qualifying resident. The assessor may require additional information as necessary to make a determination of the percentage of the property qualifying for the residential exemption.
(Prior Code, § 1-8C-3) (Ord. 03-08, passed 5-20-2003)