Summit County homeowners in Park City, Deer Valley, Empire Pass, Promontory, the Waldorf Astoria, The Canyons and The Colony at White Pine, and Wasatch County homeowners in Deer Crest, Hideout and the Grand Hyatt at Deer Valley East Village, seek $156 million in reductions after 2026 valuation notices delivered some of the steepest increases in years

PARK CITY, Utah

Wayne Levinson, a Park City global real estate advisor who also represents homeowners in property tax appeals through his practice, ParkCityTax.com, has filed 210 property tax appeals with the Summit County Board of Equalization and the Wasatch County Board of Equalization for the 2026 tax year. The appeals cover more than $836 million in assessed property value and request more than $156 million in reductions on behalf of Summit County and Wasatch County homeowners.

In 2026, Wayne Levinson of ParkCityTax.com filed 210 property tax appeals in Summit County and Wasatch County, Utah, representing $836 million in assessed value and $156 million in requested reductions — the largest single-season appeal volume he has filed.

The 2026 Summit County and Wasatch County valuation notices brought unusually large single-year increases across the area’s resort communities. Many owners in newer developments — including the Grand Hyatt at Deer Valley East Village, the Waldorf Astoria in The Canyons, and Empire Pass — saw assessments rise 30 to 60 percent, and some received notices exceeding the price they paid for their property as recently as December 2024.

“An assessment is supposed to reflect what a property would actually sell for on January 1, whether it’s a condominium in Deer Valley or a home in Promontory,” Levinson said. “When the county’s own records carry the wrong square footage, or when a home just sold at arm’s length for far less than the notice, the owner has every right to ask the Summit County or Wasatch County Board of Equalization to look again. That’s all an appeal is.”

The 210 appeals span single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes and vacant land: 174 Summit County property tax appeals across Park City real estate in Deer Valley, Empire Pass, The Canyons, the Waldorf Astoria Park City, The Colony at White Pine, Promontory, Jeremy Ranch, Pinebrook, Old Town, Silver Creek and Coalville, and 36 Wasatch County property tax appeals in Deer Crest, the Grand Hyatt at Deer Valley East Village, Hideout, Tuhaye and Victory Ranch. Roughly one in six appeals rests on a documented factual error in the county’s property record, most commonly square footage, with the balance supported by closed comparable sales, recent arm’s-length purchases of the subject property itself, and, in several cases, appraisals commissioned by the county.

Decisions issued to date have granted reductions in every resolved case, including a stipulated correction at Argent at Empire Pass, above Deer Valley, where the county’s recorded square footage exceeded the recorded plat, and two Promontory appeals where the Assessor’s own appraisals confirmed the assessments were too high. The largest single group of appeals — more than 30 residences — is at the Waldorf Astoria Park City, where owners of hotel-managed condominiums received notices well above recent resale prices.

Independent hearing officers began hearing contested appeals this week, with hearings scheduled through October. Decisions are typically issued within 30 to 60 days of hearing.
Levinson, a licensed Utah real estate agent affiliated with Engel & Völkers Park City, has represented local owners in valuation appeals for several seasons and works on a contingency basis: clients pay nothing unless their appeal succeeds. Utah law allows any Summit County or Wasatch County property owner to appeal a valuation; the 2026 filing deadline was September 15.

“This year’s volume says something about how far assessments have drifted from the market in certain neighborhoods,” Levinson added. “I sell these homes, so I see what they actually trade for. My goal in an appeal is simply an assessment that matches reality. Sometimes that’s a stipulation in a week; sometimes it’s a hearing. Either way the homeowner deserves to be heard.”

Think your 2027 assessment may be too high? Summit County and Wasatch County homeowners interested in having their property reviewed for the 2027 appeal season can learn more about the Summit County and Wasatch County property tax appeal service at ParkCityTax.com.

Curious what your Park City home is worth today? Request a complimentary Park City, Deer Valley or The Canyons home valuation at park-city.com/home-valuation.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Summit County and Wasatch County property tax appeal deadline? For Summit and Wasatch Counties, appeals of the annual valuation notice are due to the county Board of Equalization by September 15 (or within 45 days of the notice mailing). The 2026 deadline has passed; the 2027 window opens when valuation notices are mailed in late July or early August 2027.

Can I appeal my Summit County or Wasatch County property tax assessment? Yes. Any Summit County or Wasatch County property owner may appeal the market value shown on their notice. The appeal must be filed with the county Board of Equalization and supported by evidence such as a recent purchase, comparable sales, an appraisal, or a documented error in the county’s property record.

What does a Summit County or Wasatch County property tax appeal cost? Filing with the county Board of Equalization is free. ParkCityTax.com represents owners on a contingency basis, so clients pay nothing unless the appeal succeeds; the fee is a percentage of the first-year tax savings.

About Wayne Levinson

Wayne Levinson is a Global Real Estate Advisor specializing in Park City, Deer Valley, Empire Pass, Deer Crest, Promontory, The Canyons and The Colony at White Pine. He founded ParkCityTax.com to represent Summit County and Wasatch County homeowners in valuation appeals. He is a licensed Utah real estate agent (License #14175038-SA00) with Engel & Völkers Park City, 890 Main Street, Suite 5-101, Park City, UT 84060; each brokerage is independently owned and operated. Information at WayneLevinson.com and ParkCityTax.com.

Media Contact Details
Wayne Levinson
ENGEL & VÖLKERS PARK CITY
Email: Send Email
Phone: 435-777-7878
Website: www.Park-City.com

Advanced Internet Technologies highlights full-stack web engineering and isolated cloud hosting to help online merchants prevent checkout slowdowns and cart abandonment during upcoming Q4 sales.

FAYETTEVILLE, NC

As online merchants prepare for the upcoming Q4 holiday shopping surge, Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc. (AIT) is urging e-commerce businesses to audit and strengthen their underlying digital infrastructure. To prevent costly checkout bottlenecks, page latency, and shopping cart abandonment during peak promotional events, AIT is helping retailers align conversion-focused Web Design with scalable, isolated VPS Hosting.

Each year, high-volume Q4 marketing campaigns—including Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and seasonal email blasts—bring massive spikes in concurrent site visitors. When thousands of shoppers simultaneously query catalog databases, update shopping carts, and execute payment checkouts, standard shared hosting environments can become overwhelmed. This resource saturation leads to site slowdowns, server timeouts, and lost revenue at the exact moment buying intent is highest.

To help merchants prepare before peak traffic arrives, AIT provides an integrated technology framework that bridges high-converting frontend design with isolated backend server capacity.

Key elements for Q4 e-commerce readiness include:

Conversion-Engineered UX/UI: Mobile-responsive Web Design via the Web Wise ProPack, featuring clean code, fast page load speeds, and streamlined checkout funnels that convert incoming seasonal traffic.

Isolated Cloud Infrastructure: Dedicated hardware allocations via VPS Hosting, providing isolated CPU and RAM so dynamic cart updates and payment processing remain fast and uninterrupted during traffic spikes.

Database Optimization & Security: Enterprise-grade database indexing, caching strategies, and dedicated SSL configurations designed to prevent system bottlenecks and secure sensitive customer transactions.

Streamlined Control: Intuitive cPanel/WHM management tools paired with 24/7 technical support, giving merchants complete administrative control without needing extensive in-house IT teams.

“A major Q4 promotional push should be a milestone for revenue growth, not a technical crisis,”

said Mike Noble, Chief Operating Officer at AIT. “When an online store slows down or freezes during checkout, customers don’t wait—they buy from a competitor. As merchants prepare their holiday campaigns, ensuring their web design and hosting infrastructure can handle peak load is essential to protecting their marketing investment and capturing every sale.”

AIT encourages online store owners to evaluate their server capacity and site performance early to ensure seamless operations throughout the Q4 sales season.

To learn more about preparing your online store for Q4 traffic with custom Web Design or high-capacity VPS Hosting, visit https://www.ait.com/.

About Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc. (AIT)

Advanced Internet Technologies, Inc. (AIT) is a privately held web hosting, technology, and software development company. Founded in 1995, AIT has grown into an industry leader hosting hundreds of thousands of web domains for clients ranging from small businesses to enterprise operations. AIT provides a comprehensive suite of web solutions, including Web Hosting, VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers, Web Design, Domain Registration, and Managed Digital Services.

Media Contact Details
Mike Noble
Advanced Internet Technologies Inc.
Email: Send Email
Phone: 1-800-400-7619
Website: www.ait.com

San Bernardino, California

Today, San Diego civil rights firm McKenzie Scott PC filed a federal civil rights lawsuit [case number 5:26-cv-05407] against the County of San Bernardino on behalf of the Serna family, whose beloved Rottweiler, Daisy, was shot and killed by a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department deputy who entered their fenced backyard without a warrant on May 4, 2026. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, follows the County’s rejection of the family’s government claim on August 7. It names the County and the deputy who shot Daisy – identified only as “Doe 1,” because more than four months after the shooting, the County still refuses to say who he is.

Home security footage shows the deputy entered the family’s fenced backyard – without a warrant – at approximately 11:55 a.m., while looking into a stolen vehicle parked nearby that had nothing to do with the home.

Daisy did not die immediately, according to the Complaint and video footage it cites. Rather than render aid, the deputy summoned additional personnel, who entered the property in a second warrantless intrusion and spent roughly twenty minutes searching for the expended shell casing while Daisy bled to death at the side of the yard. One deputy can be heard on video remarking, “I think he’s [Daisy] dead now,” while poking her body with a baton; another is heard joking about “kill[ing] the f***ing dog.” Deputies then took Daisy’s body without the family’s permission and allowed it to be destroyed before the family could retrieve her, and let the family’s surviving dog, Raven, out into the street, where she was impounded.

“The County has had the video since the day it happened. It has had more than four months to tell this family the name of the deputy who shot their dog in their own backyard, and it has refused,” said San Diego civil rights attorney Tim Scott, lead counsel for the Serna family. “A department that will not even say who pulled the trigger is not going to hold itself accountable. So we are asking a federal jury to do it.”

The complaint alleges that Daisy’s killing is the latest in a decade-long pattern of SBSD deputies entering private property and shooting dogs they knew or should have expected to find there – and of the County, each time, defending the conduct, disciplining no one, and changing nothing.

The lawsuit also points to the County’s own written policy. SBSD Manual section 3.174.20, “Firearm Discharge – Animal,” authorizes a deputy to kill an animal “when necessary to prevent injury to the member or another person” – any injury, however minor – but says nothing about when a deputy may enter a fenced yard, about planning for a dog he knows is there, or about non-lethal alternatives.

“Twenty years ago, the Ninth Circuit told every law enforcement agency in the West that an officer who knows a dog is present has to have a plan that is not a bullet,” Scott added. “San Bernardino County’s policy does not require one. The County logs every animal its deputies shoot and then does nothing with the list. Daisy died in her own backyard because the County decided that was an acceptable outcome, and this family intends to make the County explain that decision to a jury.”

The complaint asserts nine causes of action under federal and California law, including Fourth Amendment claims for the warrantless entries and the killing of Daisy, a Monell claim against the County for its pattern and practice and its failure to train and discipline, and claims under California’s Bane Act. All four members of the household – Jesus Serna, Vanessa Gonzalez, and their two minor children – are plaintiffs. The family seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages against the individual deputies, injunctive relief, and a jury trial.

Federal courts have long held that shooting a family pet is a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and that a fenced backyard is protected to the same extent as the home itself. In San Jose Charter of Hells Angels Motorcycle Club v. City of San Jose (2005), the Ninth Circuit held that officers who know dogs are present and arrive with no non-lethal plan – leaving themselves “without any option but to kill the dogs” – act unreasonably, and recognized that “the emotional attachment to a family’s dog” is not comparable to a mere possessory interest in property. California law separately allows emotional-distress damages when a pet is killed by an intentional or grossly negligent act, or its remains are misappropriated.

Video of the incident is available at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qBgp4EVGakM. The complaint is available upon request.

About McKenzie Scott PC

McKenzie Scott is a San Diego civil rights law firm dedicated to protecting individual liberties and holding government entities accountable. The firm specializes in civil rights violation cases, including police misconduct, First Amendment rights, in-custody jail deaths, civil liberties, and public interest litigation. McKenzie Scott’s attorneys have successfully represented numerous families in excessive force and wrongful death cases against law enforcement agencies, including securing the then-largest excessive-force verdict in American history ($85 million in K.J.P. v. San Diego) and the largest wrongful death settlement paid by the County in San Diego County’s history ($16 million in the Hayden Schuck case).

For more information, please visit www.mckenziescott.com.

Media Contact Details
Jason Kitchen
McKenzie Scott San Diego Civil Rights & Criminal Defense Lawyers
Email: Send Email
Phone: 5179744724
Website: mckenziescott.com