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Show PROPERTY TAX HITS RECORD SSMILLION Property taxes levied in Utah increased 85 per cent between 1940 and 1948 according to a research re-search report titled "Propertv Taxes in Utah" released by Utah Foundation, the private tax study stu-dy agency. The 1948 total was 57 per cent higher than 1930, the peak year for Utah property tax levies prior to 1945. During the I same period, the Utah Foundation Founda-tion report notes, the addition of the sales tax, corporation and individual in-dividual income taxes, and the mine occupation tax made substantial sub-stantial inroads upon the preeminence pre-eminence of the property tax as top revenue producer, although it still ranks first by a considerable margin over any other single tax source. Property taxes in 1930 produced nearly $21 hi million for state and local government in Utah .accounting for approximately approxi-mately 80 per cent of all taxes collected by state and local units. In 1948, property taxes levied increased in-creased to $33.7 million, but represented re-presented only 45 per cent of total to-tal state and local taxes for that year, according to Utah Foundation Founda-tion analysts. Major factors in the increase in total property tax collections 1 are the new properties added to the tax rolls, and higher metal ! production reflected in increased taxable valuations of mines, the report states. A spot check of ' Salt Lake county tax rolls by Utah Foundation analysts indicates indi-cates that the 1948 tax on specific spe-cific properties which were on the rolls in 1930 was approximately approxi-mately 10 per cent higher in 1948 than the property tax charged in 1930, and 27 per cent higher in 1948 than in 1940. Property taxes on specific properties were generally gen-erally lower in 1940 than in 1930. However, the report notes that the property taxpayer had no sales tax, income tax, irancnise tax, or occupation tax to concern him in .1930. These taxes were adopted in part to relieve the property taxpayer when the depression de-pression years brought heavy tax delinquency. The Utah Foundation report states that it is not possible; to give a meaningful answer to the question, "Who pays hte property prop-erty taxes in Utah?" Although property taxes are classified by the State Tax Commission in 35 separate groupings, such groupings group-ings do not coincide with the major sectors of the economy. It is pointed out, for example, that residential, business, and industrial properties assessed locally lo-cally are all lumped together as "City and Town Lots" and "Improvements "Im-provements on City and Town Lots" on present tax rolls. Farm houses and farm buildings are reported as part of the same grouping with steel plants, smel-I smel-I ters, sugar factories, and other 'industrial plants outside city limits lim-its all shown on Utah tax rolls and tax reports as "Improvements on Acreage." Valuations for tax purposes on mines, utilities, railroads, and certain other designated industries indus-tries are set by the Utah State Tax Commission, and the amount of taxes paid by these economic groups is reported in detail each year, the Foundation study points out. Support of Utah's elementary and high schools consumes the major share of the property taxes tax-es now levied. For 1948, $20.3 million or 60 per cent of all Utah property taxes were lor the public pub-lic schools, which aLso receive the entire revenue from the individual in-dividual income tax and the corporation cor-poration franchise tax. Cities and towns levied $6.8 million property proper-ty taxes in 1948, 20 per cent of the total, and counties $6.4 million mil-lion or 19 per cent of the total property tax bill. No property tax for state pur-noses pur-noses has been levied since 1945, although the 1947 Legislature contemplated a state property tax . levy for building fund purposes. This state levy thus iar has been i avoided by the transfer of sales, tax revenues above welfare appropriations ap-propriations to finance state institution in-stitution buildings. |