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Show SALES TAX USED FOR MANY THINGS REPORT INDICATES Utah's public schools for relief re-lief of which the state sales tax was created in 1933, have recei-11 recei-11 on'y $1,400,000 of the 5.8o,060,281 produced by the sales tax since its inception, according to a report today by the Utah Foundation. Some further division to schools from the general fund has been made possibly sales tax revenue. A majority of sales and use tax (lumped together as a single tax in manner of handling) have gone for welfare proposes, the study notes. Collections for the last fiscal year set a new record of $12 -639,724. This was $1,483,967, or 13 per cent, more than for the preceding fiscal year, according to the figures prepared by the foundation, foun-dation, a non-profit tax study organization. Sales tax collections in 1934 the first year of the 2 -oer cent tax, totaled $1,708,955. The prewar pre-war peak was $4,514,244. The tax during 1947 produced 28 per cent of Utah's total state tax revenues. In 16 of 22 states having sales taxes, this percentage percent-age was exceeded, the foundation reported. The 1939, '41, and '43 Legislatures' Legisla-tures' earmarked all sales tax funds for welfare purposes. The 1945 and '47 Legislatures again divided the tax moneys among general fund, building fund, and welfare, with part of the general gen-eral fund share going to the schools. Of the total, $85,000,000 which the sales and use taxes have poured into Utah's coffers in the last 15 years, the distribution has been as follows according to the Utah foundations figures: Welfare assistance and administration, admin-istration, $59,200,000; welfare institutions, in-stitutions, $3,600,000; health department, de-partment, $700,000; general fund, $9,200,000 (part of which has been diverted to schools) ; state buildings, $4,200,000; tax corn-mis corn-mis i on, $1,300,000; public schools, $1,400,000. There was a balance of $5,400,000 in the fund as of June 30 this year. |