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Show UTAH NEAR TOPS IN TAX TAKE Utah ranked ninth among the 50 states in the proportion of its personal income goinp. for state and local taxes during dur-ing the fiscal year ended June 30, 1967. This fact was pointed point-ed out in a study of state and local taxes and expenditures just completed by Utah Foundation, Foun-dation, the private, tax research re-search agency. The Foundation report shews that Utah collected $311 million mil-lion in state and local taxes in fiscal 1967. This sum wa; equal to 12.38 of toal personal per-sonal income and was approximately approxi-mately equal to the Mountain States average of 12.42 but was well above the U. S. average aver-age of 11.05. According to the report, the Western States generally have an overall state and local tax burden that is somewhat higher high-er than that in other sections of the nation. The relative tax burden in the Western States is approximately 15 above the average for the nation. Every one of the eleven Western West-ern States had a relative state and local tax burden greater than the national average. Foundation analysts attribute the generally higher tax burden bur-den in the West to the fact that the West is less highly developed industrially and that the West places much more emphasis on education, especially espe-cially public education, than most other sections of the country. Preliminary data compiled by the Foundation indicates that Utah's' relative tax position among the Mountain States remained re-mained largely unchanged between be-tween the 1967 and 1968 fiscal years. In fiscal 1968 state and local taxes were equal to 12.47 of personal income in i Utah, compared with an average aver-age of 12.52 in the eight Mountain States. The Foundation study noted, however, that the nature of the tax system often can be more important in determining future economic growth than the aggregate tax load itself. For this reason, most states during recent years have shied away from taxes which might restrict future economic development. devel-opment. In comparing specific taxes with other states, Utah appears to be moderate in the property tax and sales tax, but high in the individual income tax. Utah derives a larger proportion propor-tion of its total state and local taxes from levies on income and production than the Mountain Moun-tain States average or the U. S. as a whole. The fiscal dilemma facing Utah along with most of the other states of the nation In pursuing their industrial development de-velopment objectives is that they must maintain average tax levels in order to meet tax competition, while at the same time, respond to legitimate needs for expenditures in order to meet public service competition. compe-tition. Utah devotes a much larger proportion of its total state and local spending to education than do other states of the nation. The Foundation report explains that this emphasis on education is a reflection of the extremely large number of children to be educated by the State. Utah has the largest overall educational load in the nation. This stress placed on education educa-tion in Utah has forced some limitations in other areas of state and local services. Utah allocates a smaller portion of its state and local spending for such activities as welfare, health and hospitals, police and fire protection, sanitation, etc., than do most other states. |
