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Show Legislature Raises Two Taxes ' In Final Budget Balancing Feat ' t BY C. SHARP Effective April 1 you will tart paying a one per cent 'ncrease in state sales tax, oringing the tax to four per V plus the half a per nt local option tax. i! Beginning July 1 you will j i tart paving one cent more ; ! ier gallon gasoline tax, i .Using the state tax to sev-i(n sev-i(n Cents. This increase will ;', to counties and cities to jy for improving feeder 'toads into the state system. Down the drink is Gov. 5 (talvin L. Rampton's pro-i pro-i ' Wd four cents more per ' ikekage of cigarettes, plan-iked plan-iked to raise $2.5 million; a graduated mine severance wax which at present would lit only Kennecott Copper ";orp., planned to raise $1.9 Million and a proposed in-rease in-rease in local school district dis-trict property tax amoum-ia?J8 amoum-ia?J8 to two mUls ($2 per $1, 000 property valuation.) No Property Raise The local property tax increase in-crease vetoed by the House would have raised $3.4 million. mil-lion. Instead the Legislature decided to have larger employers em-ployers remit their employes' employ-es' income withholding tax monthly insteadly of quarterly. quar-terly. This will provide a one-shot one-shot windfall of $5 million. Gov. Rampton cautioned that this money would not be available next year when the Legislature in its budget session looks for money for programs which will continue. Wants iSurpIus He expressed hope that revenue collections will run ahead of estmates and leave a surplus of $1.5 million for the budget session next Jan. uary. House Speaker Lorin N. Pace, R-Salt Lake, said he was happy with the budget adopted March 13, last day cf the Legislature. "If we had raised $1.5 million mil-lion more, the added money would have gone to the teachers. Regardless of how much money we raised, state agencies would still 'have been held within tight budgets," he said. Gov. Rampton said the 'money provided for public schools, $102.5 million, is only on-ly $5 million less than he had proposed. He had recommended recom-mended that local school district, dis-trict, through an increase lin their property tax, rase 3.4 million to help raise teacher's tea-cher's salaries. Cut of 5294,000 The tentative summary of general fund expenditures prepared by the Budget-Audit Budget-Audit Committee showed that the Legislature cut ($294,595 for state agencies (other than elementary and high schools. Approved for higher education educa-tion was $40 million, same as Gov. Rampton had recommended. rec-ommended. This includes $50,000 to begin be-gin a Continuing Education Center in Moab and $130,000 to continue the Continuing Education Center now functioning func-tioning in Roosevelt, .both under Utah State University Sen. Ralph A. Preece, R-Vernal R-Vernal ; Rep. . Jesse J, ' Peacock, Pea-cock, R-Orangeville; and Rep. Danniel S. Dennis R-Roosevelt, R-Roosevelt, did valiant work to win authorization for the center in Moab and win an appropriation for it. Won Amendments The same representatives and senators and others from southeastern Utah fought hard for the three reorganization bill amendments amend-ments enacted. Gov. Rampton was disaD- imake the division directors,,, subject to approval of the three department executive directors. But he was happy that the three coordinating councils were ended. Area representa tive wanted representation on the division boards rather, than the more efficient but less democratic direct organization or-ganization preferred by Gov. Rampton and the Little. Hoover Ho-over Commission of several years back. Single Board Please Gov. Rampton also was gratified with objectives of the single board for higher education to direct all universities uni-versities and colleges. SB136, signed by Gov. Rampton March 14 implementing imple-menting the Greenbelt A-imendment A-imendment to the states constitution, con-stitution, has many wrinK-les wrinK-les ' to be ironed out. Farmers and livestock men cannot have their lands assessed at values for agricultural agri-cultural use rather than speculative values until 1971. They can apply for such valuation beginning October 1, 1970. Revaluation r,. ...I,- l 1. r -uiu wueu nicy apply iur such , valuation their land will, be reappraised at what is considered a fair level, 20 .per cent of the value for farm purposes. Many counties already have their farm lands valued at less than that percentage. Grand County agriculture lands, according to a random ran-dom sampling, would experience ex-perience a 6.77 per cent increase in-crease over their current evaluations. Gov. Rampton said the problems would be nroned out to the end . that Utah's agricultural industry will be permitted to continue. Meanwhile under SB20, the state will contract with counties to revalue all lands every five years. The stale is to pay 70 per cent of the evaluating costs and the county to pay 30 per cent. This work is to be done by trained appraisers. |