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Show Utah Cities Will Spend $275-Million This Year Utah's 45 largest cities (those with a 1984 population of 6,000 or more) will collect and spend an estimated $275 million from their general fund budgets prepared by Utah Foundation, the private tax research organization. . .-, The analysis was based on budget plans submitted by the cities to the State Auditor's Office at the beginning of the present fiscal year. Excluded from the analysis were revenues and expenditures for capital projects, debt service, utility operations, and other special Items. Foundation analysts point out that some of these budget figures may have to be adjusted in many of the cities as budgets are reopened to deal with special problems that develop during the course of the year. According to the study, budget expenditures range from a high of $485 per capita in Salt Lake City to a low of $110 in South Jordan, with an average of $265 per city resident in the 45 cities included in the survey. The study notes that per capita costs tend to be higher in the larger cities becauase of the more sophisticated level of municipal services provided by such cities. Law enforcement, streets and public improvements, along with general government are the three major areas of public expenditures for Utah cities. These three items are responsible for more than 65 percent of all budgeted general fund expenditures in ten 45 cities surveyed by the Foundation. The sales tax, the proerpty tax, and the utility franchise tax are the three most important sources of revenue for Utah cities. In the cities examined, these three taxes account for more than 60 percent of all general municipal revenue budgeted for the 1985-86 fiscal year. According to the Foundation study, the local option sales tax has become the largest single revenue producer in many Utah cities. Two years ago, the Legislature raised the local option sales tax rate, but prescribed a new method for allcoating the funds back to the local unit. If a local government decided to increase its local sales tax rate, it had to agree to an allocation formula that included a gradual phasing in of a population factor until eventually 50 percent of the tax will be distributed to local units according to population and 50 percent according to point of sale. Prior to 1983, all of the revenue (minus a small collection fee) was returned to the community where It was originally collected. Foundation analysts note that the property tax continues as an Important revenue source in most Utah cities. In many cases, the property tax has become a balancing item to match available revenues against proposed expenditures. Property taxes were boosted approximately 9.4 percent this year in the cities surveyed. These higher taxes are the result of (1) an increase in the general assessment level on most locally-assessed property resulting from the Tax Commission factoring program and (2) higher tax rates imposed by many of the cities in 1985. Growing in relative importance during recent years has been the utility franchise tax, According to the budgets submitted, 40 of the 435 cities surveyed will be using this tax in 1985-86. Rates range up to 6 percent, and it is expected that the tax will produce more than $34 million this year. All of this revenue is derived from a tax on utility bills paid by Individuals and businesses. I |