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Show Third of Utah Personal Income Went For Taxes, Study Finds dollar. Welfare expenditures increase moderately in 1960. Utah continues con-tinues to provide grants that are above the U. S. average for most cotegories of public assistance. The Foundation reports that highway spending declined in 1960 as a result of the cutback of the scheduled federal highway high-way program. Despite this fact highway expenditures in Utah in 1960 still were nearly two and a half times above the 1955 level and four times that for 1950. Nearly a third of the personal income received by individuals in Utah went for taxes in 1960, according to a year end review of governmental activities prepared pre-pared by Utah Foundation, the private governmental research organization. The Foundation study shows that Utahns paid a total of $525 million in federal, state and local taxes during the 1960 fiscal year. Total taxes paid by Utahns amounted to $212 million in '50 and $51 million in '40. Taxes in 1960 were equal to nearly $600.00 for every man, woman and child residing in the state. Thus for an average family of four persons, the tax burden amounted to nearly $2,400 in 1960. Although income levels in the state have nearly doubled since 1950, the Foundation observes that taxes are taking increased proportion of the higher income. In 1960 approximately 32 per cent of the total personal income in-come of individuals in Utah went for taxes (both direct and hidden). By contrast, the relative tax burden was 25.9 per cent in 1950, 20.2 per cent in 1940 and 11.9 per cent in 1930. Foundation analysts point out that government not only takes the, largest sahre of the personal expenditure dollar, but conversely con-versely is also the largest single supplier of personal income in Utah. More persons in Utah' are employed by government (federal, (fed-eral, state and local) than by any other segment of the state economy. econ-omy. In June, 1960, there were 61,976 persons working for some governmental unit in Utah. This is equal to 23 per cent of the total nonagricultural work force of 270.000 in the state. In addition, addi-tion, there are many others who are employed by private concerns con-cerns which deal primarily in governmental contract work. The study shows that federal taxes accounted for $331 million or 63 per cent of the 1960 tax load in Utah, while state and local taxes were qeual to $194 million or 37 per cent of the total. This is almost a direct reversal of the situation that prevailed pre-vailed in 1940 when 69 per cent of the total tax burden resulted from state and local taxes and only 31 per cent for federal. According to the Foundation study, most of this shift in emphasis em-phasis to the federal government occurred during the war years of the 1940s when federal taxes and expenditures expanded. In recent years, however, the rate of growth in state and local taxes has been greater than that of the federal government. Since 1955, state and local taxes in Utah have increased 66 per cent, compared with a 45 per cent rise in the federal tax burden. As expected, education is the number one expenditure item for state and local government in Utah. The Foundation reports that Utah spent $131.1 million for education (local schools, colleges col-leges and other) in fiscal 1960. This represents an increase of $12.2 million or 10 per cent in the year. Educational expenditures expendi-tures in Utah have trebled in the past decade and have multiplied more than eight and a half times within the past twenty years. Part of the rise is accounted for by enrolling increases and reduced re-duced purchasing power of the |
