OCR Text |
Show ir i ...... 'I Page Eight FRIDAY JANUARY 1 1 960 THE SALT LAKE TIMES j Utahns Pay $434 Million In Taxes During Fiscal Year Utahns paid a total of $434 million in taxes (federal, state, and local) during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1959, according to a year end review of govern-ment, just released by the Utah Foundation, private government research agency. Taxes, both direct and hidden, took nearly 29c out of every dol-lar received by Utahns last year. This total tax burden was equal to more than $500 for every man woman and child residing in the state or $2,000 for an average family of four persons. Foundation analysts observe that the tax burden probably will be even greater in 1960 than it was in 1959 as a result of higher property and sales tax rates. According to the report, fed-eral taxes accounted for 61 per cent, state taxes for 22 per cent, and local taxes for 17 per cent of the total Utah tax burden in 1959. This is almost direct re-versal of the situation in 1940 when federal taxes comprised 31 percent and state and local taxes made up 69 per cent of the total tax load in Utah. The study points out that gov-ernment has been playing an increasingly important role in the Utah economy during recent years. Approximately 23 out of every 100 nonagricultural em-ployees in Utah are now work-- j ing for some unit of government either federal, state or local. Government is th largest em-ployer in the state. The number of government jobs in Utah in-creased 189 per cent between 1940 and 1959 compared with a rise of only 107 per cent in pri-vate non government employ-ment during this same period. Thus, since 1940 government employment in Utah has been increasing at an average rate of 5.7 per cent per year, compared with an average annual rise of 3.9 per cent in non government employment. Foundation analysts note that 1959 was a high spending year for education and highway con-struction in Utah. Utah spent $118.9 million for public educa-- ; tion (elementary and secondary, higher education and other) in 1959. This amount was equal to 7.8 per cent of the total personal income in the state last year. The report states that rising enroll-ments and further liberalization in the school program by the 1959 Legislature will result in still further increases during 1960. Utah also swung into high gear on a greatly expanded highway construction program in 1959. According to the report, Utah spent $49.2 million on the state highway system in fiscal 1959. The state has spent more for highway construction during the past seven years than was spent in its previous 56 year his-tory. In addition the state dis-tributed $2.8 million to the local units and the local governments provided another $6.5 million in local funds for use on city streets and county roads. A leveling off in state highway expenditures during the next few years is ex-pected, however, due to a cut- - ... back in the original federal aid schedule. Expenditures for other gov-ernment functions also rose dur-ing 1959, the report continues. The rise in the cost of living, for example, caused upward adjust-ments to be made in public as-sistance payments. Despite the increase in total welfare expen-ditures during 1959, state funds devoted to welfare purposes ac-tually declined during the year. The higher welfare costs in Utah were met by increased federal funds resulting from changes in the federal social security act by the 1958 U. S. Congress. The study notes that much of the increase in Utah government spending is the result of an ex-panded capital outlay program. The state spent $46.1 million on capital outlay in fiscal 1958, in-cluding both buildings and high-way construction, an increase of $18.4 million from the 1957 fig-ure. In addition, local school districts expended $26.9 million for capital outlay during the '58-5- 9 school year, compared with $24.0 million in 1957-5- 8. Hearing Declares Property at ; 1st South and State Obsolete (Continued from Page 1) Mayor Adiel F. Stewart said he was disappointed at such a low appraisal from each ap-praiser. "I had hoped the ap-praisals would be from $750,000 to $800,000." In addition to the public hear-ing the 27 member Citizens Ad-visory Committee on City Plan-ning and Capital Improvements met Wednesday to study the ap-praisals and to consider where to locate a new public safety building and its relation to a pro-posed new civic center. In his report Mr. Kiepe said that different parts of the prop-erty had different values. He said he segregated the property into economic divisions to reflect the areas individually. His conclusion was that the public safety building, the old fire station, city jail and public health building are "antiquated and built for specific purposes.". He said that "to convert them' to private use, would require j such large amounts of capital j that such a program would be economically- - unsound. The ex-traordinary and unanticipated growth of Salt Lake City during the past 10 years has made pres-ent quarters for various services housed entirely inadequate. With the predicted future growth, the facilities will apparently force the immediate action for bigger and better housing accommoda-tions. "None of the facilities appraised meets modern standards of mu-nicipal housing and because of the inadequacy greatly increase the cost of those units affected. The cost of maintenance, heating and general upkeep are excessive and make these costs abnormally high," he reported. BYU Calls For Drawings for Proposed Fine Arts Center Architects have been engaged to design a new Fine Arts Center at Brigham Young University, it was announced by President Ernest L. Wilkinson. A contract was signed with William Pereira and Associates of Los Angeles, who have been specialists in fine arts and uni-versity buildings. Schematic drawings are expected to be com pleted in four months and work-ing drawings in six months. The present status of the proj-ect allows for architects plans only, President Wilkinson said. No final approval has been given for construction of the Fine Arts Center. Mr. Pereira and his associates developed master plans for the Colorado School of Mines, Cali-fornia Institute of Technology, Occidental College. Santa Bar-bara College and Claremont School of Theology. Some of the firm's individual projects in the Southern Cali-fornia area alone are the CBS Television City; IBM Building; Lincoln Square Theatre; Occi-dental College Music Speech Building, Residence Hall, and Science Building; Riverside Life Science Building; Santa Barbara College Dining Commons, Fine Arts Building, Gymnasium, Mu-sic Building and Residence Hall; Union Oil Center; Signal Oil Center; University of California at Los Angeles Theatre Arts Building. "A new fine arts center is a pressing need at Brigham Young University," President Wilkin-son said. "The Speech and Dra-matic Arts Department is now cramped in a war surplus build-ing, the Art Department is still located in worn, old buildings on lower campus, and the Music Department is scattered all over campus." In addition more than 4,500 students are now taking finej arts classes at BYU and there are about 650 majors. It is esti-mated that by 1975 there will be more than 2000 majors and prob-ably more than 11,000 students registered in fine arts. Recommendations of the BYU Fine Arts Center Advisory Com-mittee call for a gross area of 232,000 square feet. This would be larger than any building on campus, but in reality the center would be three buildings closely interconnected rather than one single building. In the art section, considerable srace would be devoted to ex-hibit rooms and lecture rooms. Plans also call for 14 studios and classrooms for figure drawing, still life and portrait painting, landscape painting, print mak-ing, commercial art, crafts lab- - J oratory, ceramics and plastic arts laboratories, sculpture labora-tory and photography studio. Space also would be provided for storage of permanent art col-lection, shipping and receiving1 room for art works. For the music section, the com-mittee envisions 14 classrooms, six laboratories for group piano, opera workshop, band, choral; 52 practice cubicles for band, or- - chestra instruments, piano and voice; also 14 practice cubicles , for organ, piano, harpsicord and small ensemble; 52 faculty of- - fices and studios , Special rooms proposed for the , music section are music library i with phonograph listening cubi-cles, museum of ancient instru-- , ments and rare scores, tuning and repair shop, instrument and uniform storage room, and con-trol and recording room. Speech . recommendations call for 20 class and performance rooms, an arena theatre with 200 seats and a little theatre with 200 seats, 35 hidden cubicles, 50 faculty offices, . make-u- p and lighting laboratory. The speech building theatre would include seating for 600 and foyer, box office and green room, stage area, dressing rooms, costume construction, cleaning and storage rooms, scene shop, furniture and properties storage, lighting repair and storage. The speech and rehabilitation clinic would require waiting, rooms, observation rooms, ten testing and therapy rooms, group hearing testing room and indi-vidual hearing, testing rooms, control room and sound cham-ber. Planned for the radio and television section are four radio and television studios with con-trol, rooms, recording library, dressing rooms, scene shop, re-pair shop and graphics work-shop. t Washington Officials See Good Year For Americans in '60 Editor's Note: What will be forthcoming in Washington this year? The answer to this ques-tion is vital to all of us. To find the answer Columnist Clinton Davidson has talked to a number of government offi-cials. He got an appraisal of 1959 and a preview of what is to come in 1960. His report follows. Almost without exception they rate 1959 as a "good year." It has been, they agree, a year, of marked economic recovery, only marred by the steel strike and sharply lower farm income. This has been a year of un-precedented prosperity. National income has set a new all time record, more than $20 billion above last year. Unemployment has dropped and employment has increased by about two million. Peace is more secure than it was a year ago. There has been at least a crack in the cold war ice. World War III seems more remote and less likely than it did a year ago. There is unanimous agreement in Washington that the year ahead offers good prospects of continued national prosperity, as well as a further thaw in the cold war. With the exception of farmers 1960 is expected to be a better year for almost everyone than 1959. People will have more money to spend and factories will turn out more things than they can buy. Washington expects President Eisenhower's forthcoming visit to Russia, and the Summit Con-ference which is expected to fol-low, to lay the groundwork for peace between the great powers of the East and West. j There is hope, too, that at least a start can be made on : disarmament in I960" Negotia-tions for arms reduction would be expected to follow a success-ful Summit Conference. The general feeling of opti-mism in Washington is mixed, however, with the realization that 1960 will not be without serious problems. Some of the problems which those we talked with see ahead include: How to keep national prosper-ity rolling without it turning into inflation. Prices that go up faster than incomes could leave all of us with less purchasing power. Most officials rank farm prices and income as the No. 1 problem to be put before Congress. Farm prices now average 8 per cent below a year ago and net farm income this year is 15 per cent below 1958. There is worry, too, over the possibility of crippling strikes. The steel strike made Washing-ton jittery over a possible strike of railroad workers in February. Along with its other problems Washington will devote consid-erable attention to the general election next November. This is something more that worries Washington more than it does the rest of the country. On balance, taking into con-sideration the good and the bad. 1960 looks like a year in which the good news should greatly out weigh the bad. Utah Mental Health Calls Regional Meet Mental health leaders and rep-resentatives of seven county Mental Health Associations will meet in Provo January 9 for a regional conference. Charles A. Boynton, Jr., president of the Utah Association for Mental Health, will lead the state meet-ing. Dr. Marlow B. Harston, chief psychiatrist, Mental Health Clinic, Utah County, will be the featured luncheon speaker. Topic will be "Your Community Clin-ic." Concurrent workshops will include "Mental Health in Utah" Legislation, HB 257; Budget and Fund Raising in 1960, Chapel Project and Speakers' Directory. The afternoon session will con-sist of a meeting of the Board of Directors of UAMH and a tour of the Utah State Hospital. Host chapter will be the Utah County Association, Provo. Moss Asks Seaton To Recommend Emery County Project (Continued from page 1) time is ripe for construction of this relatively small but very im-portant unit in Upper Colorado River development. It is my understanding that advance planning studies have been under way since 1957 on Emery, and that the budget for the current fiscal year contains about $75,000 which can be used to complete the studies necessary for this project. Stepping up the tempo of these studies could, I am sure, make this plan avail-able before the end of the fiscal year 1961, the present schedule. "As you know, lack of water is a real bar to the growth and development of the area on the eastern slopes of the Wasatch Mountains which would be irri-gated by the Emery county proj-ect. Completion of the Joes Val-ley Dam and reservoir, Swansey diversion dam on Cottonwood Creek, the 17 mile Cottonwood Creek Huntington Canal, and some smaller canal laterals and drains would bring supplemental irrigation to 20,450 acres of land, and put 3,630 new acres under irrigation. This would be a tremendous economic shot in the arm to this whole area." feGillette Adjustable Razor MM Msh - IblpslIaaltadGbcr EteSiy 0!dsi Rash! Zemo liquid or ointment a doc-tor's antiseptic, promptly relieves itching, stops scratching end so helps heal and clear surface skin rashes. Buy Extra Strength Zemo for PfYl fl stubborn cases !"wJ.V |