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Show USD CilQell IHG0EJG? SPECIAL TO CLIPPER In Davis County, how much does it take in terms of income in-come to stay even in these times of steadily rising living costs? How much more does a local family need today, compared com-pared with five years ago? ACCORDING TO figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Conference Board and others- plenty. Since 1970, the price of goods and services have climbed to such an extent ex-tent that the purchasing power of the dollar is off by more than 23 cents. Together with higher Federal income taxes and spiraling Social Security contributions, the total cost of living has gone up by about 39 percent in the period. AS A result, the average household in Davis County is getting much less mileage out of the dollar than it got five years ago. A calculation based upon the overall findings shows that a local family that had an income of $7,000 a year at that time would need close to $9,730 now to equal its former purchasing power. FAMILIES THAT were in the $9,000 bracket would have to have $12,500. Those that had $12,000 would require $16,680 and those at the $16,000 level would need $22,240 to come out even. With the increase in their earnings over the past five years, residents of Davis County have been better able, to keep abreast of the rising cost of living than have those in many sections of the country. ACCORDING TO the figures, the average income in the local area, after deducting personal taxes, reached a level of $15,070 per household by 1975, as against $10,430 in 1970. The increase was 44 percent. This compares with a 36 percent rise in the United States and with 42 percent in the Mountain States. BIGGER INCOMES have one harmful side effect, however. As the Conference Board points out: "Taxpayers' "Tax-payers' income continues to be eroded by higher" axes on the one hand and by the higher rate of inflation on the other. The inflation-fueled growth in nominal income puts an increasingly larger group of taxpayers into higher income brackets, where the progressive income tax structure claims a larger proportion of income for taxes." As a result, it finds, taxes have been the fastest rising item in the family budget in recent years, with food a close second. |