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This opinion is subject to revision before final publication in the Pacific Reporter.
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF UTAH ----oo0oo----

Original Proceeding in this Court
Attorneys: Dan H. Matthews, Derek Pullan, Heber City, for Wasatch County Board of Equalization Jan Graham, Att'y Gen., John C. McCarrey, Asst. Att'y Gen., Salt Lake City, for Tax Commission Rex E. Madsen, Reed L. Martineau, Salt Lake City, for Strawberry Water Users Association DURHAM, Justice:

The Wasatch County Board of Equalization (Wasatch County or the County) sought to impose a tax on the Strawberry Water Users Association (the Water Users Association) pursuant to the "rollback" provisions of the Farmland Assessment Act. The Water Users Association appealed the County's assessment to the Utah State Tax Commission (the Tax Commission), which granted its petition for summary judgment and ordered the County to withdraw the assessment. Wasatch County petitioned this court for review of the Tax Commission's order, which we affirm.
Until 1989, the Water Users Association held the land use rights to federal property surrounding Strawberry Reservoir. Pursuant to a contract with the United States government, the Water Users Association used the land for grazing and other purposes. Although it was not the owner of the land, the Association paid a "privilege tax" to Wasatch County in connection with its use of the federal land. The privilege tax is a tax "imposed on the possession or other beneficial use enjoyed by any person of any real or personal property which [like the federal land involved in this litigation] . . . is exempt from taxation." Utah Code Ann. 59-4-101(1)(a). The amount of the privilege tax "is the same amount that the ad valorem property tax would be if the possessor or user were the owner of the property." Id. 59-4-101(2).
In 1972, the Water Users Association applied for and was granted a farmland or "greenbelt" assessment on the value of the property under the Farmland Assessment Act, Utah Code Ann. 59-2-501 to -515 (1992).(1) That chapter permits certain
property used for agriculture, including "[l]and which is subject to the privilege tax," id. 59-2-503(2), to be assessed for general tax purposes based on "the value which the land has for agricultural use," rather than on the land's fair market value. Id. 59-2-503(1). This agricultural use valuation results in a substantial tax savings to the landowner or, as in this case, the land user. However, the act also provides that "[i]f land which . . . has been in agricultural use . . . is applied to a use other than agricultural, . . . it is subject to an additional tax referred to as the 'rollback tax.'" Id. 59-2

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