Tax Tug-of-War on Capitol Hill

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) In the tug-of-war over how much to cut taxes this year, Utah officials may end up on a different path all together. The Governor and Senate Republicans want to cut income taxes even further. House Speaker Greg Curtis wants to take the rest of the sales tax off food. And so "in the world of political compromise, we're talking about defaulting to property tax," says Curtis.

Curtis says he'd like to see the state get out of the property tax business and leave those levies to local governments. He estimates it would cost the state 245-million dollars - well within the House Republican Caucus decision to cut 300-million dollars in taxes. However the Senate and Governor only want to spend 100-million dollars on tax cuts.

Curtis says another compromise may be to prohibit cities and counties from imposing a Zoo Arts and Parks tax on groceries. That would amount to another tax cut for Utahns, but may cause trouble for counties that plan to bond against those revenues for other projects.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom and Legislative Coverage. Copyright 2008 KCPW