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Show Utah's Growth Rate Well Below U. S Utah's rate of economic growth during recent years has been well below that of the nation as a whole, and most of the growth that has occurred has been the result of government expansion rather ra-ther than private development. develop-ment. . These were the disturbing, conclusions reached in the latest research report released re-leased by Utah Foundation, the private governmental research re-search agency. The Foundation analysis shows that Utah is slipping further behind the rest of the nation in personal income. Tn 1962, for example, per capita income in Utah was only 9 per cent below the U. S. average. By 1966, Utah had dropped 16 per cent below the average for the nation. Per capita income in Utah during 1966 amounted to $2.-485 $2.-485 ,or nearly $500 under the U. S. average of $2,963. According to the Foundation Founda-tion study, total employment in Utah private industry increased in-creased only 12 per cent between be-tween 1960 and 1967, compared compar-ed with a 63 per cent rise in the number of government jobs (Federal, state, and local) lo-cal) during this same period. At the present time, government govern-ment employment accounts for more than 100.000 jobs in Utah, or 30 per cent of the total nonagricultural work force. Similarly, most of the increase in-crease in Utah's personal income in-come during the 1960's has been in the public rather than in the private sector of the economy. Between I960 and 19G6 personal income derived de-rived from nongovernmental sources rose only 32 per cent, while government payments climbed more than 70 percent in this period. Payments bo governmental units accounted for nearly $700 million, or 27.9 per cent of Utah's total to-tal personal income in 1966. Foundation analysts point out that expansion in governmental govern-mental activities has resulted result-ed in sharply higher taxes. The proportion of personal income going for taxes (36.6 per cent) now is at its highest high-est point in history. During the 1967 fiscal year, the people peo-ple of Utah paid an estimated estimat-ed $917 million in Federal, state and local taxes. Included in the above total are "hidden" or indirect taxes tax-es as well as the direct taxes tax-es paid by individuals. A substantial sub-stantial portion of the tax cost paid by business is reflected re-flected in higher prices of goods and services purchased purchas-ed by individuals or in a reduction re-duction of the wages, salaries, salar-ies, dividends, andor profits that individuals might otherwise other-wise receive. According to the Foundation Founda-tion report, there has been very little, if any, net migration migra-tion to or from Utah thus far in the 1960 decade. The population popu-lation increase between 1960 and 1967 is just about equal to the natural increase (excess (ex-cess of births over deaths) during this same period. Utah's total population was estimated at 1,024,000 on July 1, 1967, compared with 890,-627 890,-627 on the last official population popu-lation count in 1960. Utah currently ranks eleventh el-eventh among the fifty states in the proportion of personal person-al income going for state and local taxes. One bright spot noted in the Foundation report, re-port, however, is that Utah's relative tax position among the states should improve, since no new taxes were enacted en-acted by the 1967 Utah Legislature Leg-islature while substantial taz hikes were approved in a number of the other states. |
