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HILDALE, Utah (AP) -- With tax deadlines either past or looming, the court-appointed accountant in charge of a polygamist church's trust held a town meeting here Wednesday to appeal for church members to pay their property taxes or risk being evicted from their homes.
The United Effort Plan trust holds almost all the property -- from tiny, partially finished homes to monstrous brick palaces -- in the twin towns of Hildale and Colorado City, Ariz., home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
A Salt Lake City judge put the trust in Bruce Wisan's hands last June, after state attorneys said its assets had been mismanaged by church leader Warren Jeffs and other church officials. Jeffs is a fugitive, sought on Utah and Arizona charges that he arranged plural marriages between underage girls and older men.
Wisan's control of the trust and his plea for property tax payments have been met with hostility, some of which erupted Wednesday night.
"What's this talk that we have a privilege of living here compared to a right?" asked resident LeGrand Hammond in response to Wisan saying residents had to pay their taxes for the privilege of remaining in their homes. "I've lived here all my life. I built my home, and you tell me I have a privilege?"
In the past, property taxes on the land in Hildale and Colorado City had been paid by the church, which sent assessment letters to members and collected the funds. But church leaders have told members not to cooperate with Wisan or anyone acting on his behalf.
No property taxes were paid on land in Utah last year and less than half of Arizona taxes were paid, Wisan said.
"My position is that property tax obligations need to be paid by the people living on trust property," Wisan said.
So far, only a handful of people have signed occupancy agreements and paid. A few others have been sent eviction notices, and Wisan said he's working his way through a list of occupants in larger properties and will be sending them notices to pay up or move.
In something of a surprise last week, Lyle Jeffs, who some say is the only senior church leader still living in the community, paid a tax bill of nearly $14,000 on a 64-acre parcel that includes numerous homes and a communal health center.
It contradicts the edict to not cooperate, Wisan said, "But is it a change of philosophy? I don't know."
About three dozen people attended the meeting at Hildale City Hall, although at least a dozen of those present were either attorneys or investigators working with Wisan or members of a court-appointed advisory board helping him understand the community.
"The people who really need to hear what I'm saying aren't really here," said Wisan, who also is communicating through mass mailings.
Wisan said his goal to ensure that people who live here, about 90 percent of whom are members of the church, stay in their homes.
"We want to be fair, we want to be compassionate," he said.
Earlier in the day, attorneys who work for Wisan began a series of depositions of police officers and others from the two towns.
The depositions are aimed at getting information about property -- including a grain elevator, a modular building and the offices of a construction company -- that has disappeared since the control of the trust was given to Wisan.
Any improvements to trust property, whether those are homes or business, are considered part of trust assets, Wisan said.
Two police officers were deposed Wednesday, with several more set for Thursday and Friday.
Greg Hoole, an attorney whose clients in three separate lawsuits alleging abuse by Warren Jeffs against several young men from the community, said Wednesday night that the depositions produced a minimal amount of information.
"It's clear that the officers have no real intention to protect trust assets," he said. "In some instances they refuse to provide any information."
In depositions taken in February, Officer Sam Johnson said he had been told by church leaders not to honor the suspension of church officials as directors of the trust and not to cooperate with Wisan.
Wisan's attorney, Jeff Shields said he plans to file a motion asking the court to compel the officers to answer the questions they refused to answer.
Two prominent members of the sect, James Allred, 58, and Mica Barlow, 36, a deputy town marshal, have been in jail in Arizona since April 7 for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Phoenix.
The Hildale-Colorado City area has been home to polygamists since the early 1900s.
Today between 6,000 and 10,000 members are believed to belong to the FLDS church. Most have traditionally lived along the Utah-Arizona border, although in recent years, the numbers seemed to have dwindled here.
Meanwhile the church has added a 2,000-acre compound in Eldorado, Texas, plus smaller ranches in Colorado, Nevada and South Dakota. It also has an enclave in British Columbia.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-04-19-06 2230MDT
