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Show Special Opinion Guest Editorial Isntanybody listening? Small businesses take a legislative beating By Senator Robert Bennett Recently, a small businessman came to my Salt Lake office to share with me his concern s about President Clintons economic proposal and the effects it would have on his business. Then he asked me, Senator, isnt there anybody back there listening to what were trying to say? I had to tell him, No. There arent many people back in Washington listening and, frankly, Im surprised that so few of my colleagues understand how small business really works. I was elected to the Senate as a small businessman. Duringmy campaign, I promised the people of Utah I would represent small business. In my state alone, seven of every ten employees work for firms in this category. However, since Ive been in 5 .rs most precious commodity SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS come from S corporations, sole proprietorships, or partnerships small business income, not individual income. Since it is small businesses that are creating almost 80 percent of the new jobs in our country, the Clinton tax plan will attack the economys sector. productive, success. taxes it Simply put, These small businesses will be paying higher tax rates than the Fortune 500 companies. Capital Availability. The final area Ill mention where small businesses are taking a beating has to do with capital availability. It is the lack of understanding of the impact of the capital gains tax rate that has led the Senate to write into its version of the tax plan an increase of the top capital gains tax rate from 28 to 30.8 percent. This locks up investment capital in existingbusinesses and starves the new businesses from the opportunity to get the capital that they need. If the proposal it would translate into a 54 percent increase since 1986. President Clinton should remember the words of the person who first inspired him to seek public office, President John F. Kennedy, who said, The tax on capital gains directly affects the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth of the Water-ou- r Editors The following article will be the first in a series on the complicated issue of water in the Southwest. note- - By Francis Battista Water has been a Southern Utah fightin word since the Anasazi Indians abandoned their homes because of drought around nine hundred years ago, or so the th eory goes. There have been many fights over water since the rest of us arrived here, over one hundred years later. Water is a cause for litigation if not all out range war in the desert southwest, for the simple reason that there just isnt very much of the stuff around! Water is the single, most defining issue for Kanab. Without a reliable water supply, this, or any other town, will just dry up and blow away. The Navajo Aquifer, a geologic engineeringmarvel.is the source water. The of Kanabs name derives from the Navajo sandstone formations running Senate the has Washington, across thispart of southern Utah. in three passed specific proposals It constitutes the White Cliffs, main areas which will syphon Coral Sands and the gently-sculpte- d fuel from the job growth engine. formations seen north These areas are: excessive fedThree Lakes. around of town taxaeral regulation, exorbitant sandstone is relatively tion and the unavailability of Navajo light and porous. Like a giant capital due to an increase in the tax. sponge, the Navajo Aquifer soaks capital gains Government Regulation. up rain and snow melt. The The fact is, small businesses heavy, deep red underlying rock, the Kayenta formation, is cant flourish when burdened by the like and keeps excess water excessive regulation, from draining away. provisions in the recently passed Act. Medical When the sponge gets full to Leave and Family overflowing, excess water leaks Many government regulations out in the form of springs which and in the those such as Family make the desert bloom and join Medical Leave Act go into effect economy. We are told that the presidents together to form Kanab Creek, when a business grows to 50 I a met plan will lower borrowing costs, Three Lakes, Johnson Canyon, employees. recently and thereby increase the amount Hog Canyon and most of the of a who woman is the owner I small business. When asked of capital available to small busi- watering holes east and west of her how big her business was, ness. That is no comfort to the Kanab, making this area habit she replied, Senator, were at many small businesses which 49 and holding. She explained lack the necessary credit to seto me that if she wasnt facing cure a bank loan. And you cant the onerous regulatory overhang dodge the truth that the healthithat comes with 50 employees, est growth and the most permashe would hire up to ten people nent jobs come from funds that tomorrow. But she wont; she are internally generated from profits, not funds that are extersimply cant afford to. This woman isnotalone. There nally borrowed from banks. It is time for Congress to start are many businesses in the category of 49 and holding that are listening and recognize that deliberately restricting their small businesses have a proven growth in order to avoid that track record of creating jobs. If kind of regulatory liability. The we suffocate them with excesreal cost of excessive regulation sive regulation, taxation and the is the loss of potential jobs. pressures on investment capiExcessive Taxation. tal, we are destroying the job The president asks individu- creation which this country so als making $250,000, the desperately needs. President Clintons budget, with the largfair to their rich, pay share hoping to paint a picture est tax hike in history, is not the of a class of individuals whose answer to economic recovery; sole concern is rather, it is a stick in the spokes tax avoidance. Admittedly, of the economic growth wheel. Editors note: We received the $250,000 is a lot of money for an individual, but it is not a lot of preceding editorial after our money for a business. Seventy-seve- n deadline last week. Even though Fripercent of all tax returns the budget was passed last editothe to filed by individuals described by day, we decided run r Figure S. rial in include the Clinton as anyway. rich, job-creati- life-givi- ng non-poro- us able for millennia. Likewise, the city wells north of town drilled down into the Navajo Aquifer along with some help from the Canyon Lakes Springs, give Kanab one of the highest quality municipal water systems anywhere. You may ask, whats a fella from New York City (New Yawk City?), doing spouting off about Utah water? The truth is, water is everybody's business. Ignore it and the laws controlling who gets it, only at your own risk. In Utah, all water belongs to the state. Private citizens do not own the water flowing from springs on their land or that which sits in their front yard pond. For that matter, Kanab City doesnt own the water that it pumps out of its wells, and the Kanab Irrigation Company doesnt own the water in its reservoir. The State of Utah owns it all. These lesser entities only possess conditional use rights. This means that private property land, and the water that flows from, or across it, (which is state owned) can travel entirely separate legal paths. A land owner might not have any right to use the water on his or her land. That privilege depends upon who owns the water rights. Water rights are determined state-controll- ed according to a system based on historic use, judicial decrees, demonstrable improvements of water sources and systems, and the availability of unclaimed water. The use of water is also prioritized by the state according to beneficial use. Watering a field is considered more beneficial to the state than watering livestock. Home use such as that used in drinking, cooking, and bathing is regarded as the most beneficial use to which water can be put in Utah. Such categorizations become important when arguments arise over competing water claims. The higher the priority of use, the more favorably the state looks upon your claim. A water claim is not a water right. You can claim the moon, so to speak, as long as someone else hasnt already claimed it. However, you have to prove that it exists and demonstrate the ability to beneficially use your claim without adversely affecting an already existing or senior right. Nevada Electric Investment Company and Utah International Inc. spent truck loads of time and money in an unsuccessful attempt to prove on theoretical grounds with minimal evidence, that their huge water claims for wells cn the Alton Bench would be tapping into unclaimed water, and that their extensive pumping operation to send pulverized coal and water to Las Vegas would not draw down springs and wells in the East Fork of the Virgin River, Kanab Creek and Johnson Canyon. The plan never went ahead for many reasons mostly economic, but the resolution ofthose claims is still in some bureaucratic nether-zonWith Washington Countys rapid growth, many Kane County citizens are thankful UII never built that water slurry line that would have given thirsty Las Vegas and St. George a direct lin e in to th e h eart of our precious Navajo Aquifer. All ofthe above is a very simple view of a complex issue, from an interested amateur. In weeks to come look for more articles on Kane Countys most important natural resource. e. Formations older than Straight Cliffs and younger than Navajo Navao so-call- ed aquifer non-producti- ve Ground-wafe- Nmf m4 SfrtigM CJ Mb recharge, movement, and discharge In the principal aquifers tn the Kanab block. ftquifem |