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Show I Arguments For 1. Utahns will finally be protected from unreasonable property taxes which threaten our homes and businesses. Passage or this initiative will ensure that property taxes will be reduced by about $80 million or 1.5 of total state and local spending as reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Property taxes will then be prevented from increasing beyond 34 of 1 of the value of a home and 1 of the value of a business. The cuts will be equally shared among all types of property. 2. Future local tax increases and new taxes cannot be adopted without voter approval. This puts the power back into the hands of the people, where it belongs. The tax collector will no longer be able to ignore the wishes of a majority of the voters. 3. Bonding by local governments must be decided by voters at regularly scheduled general elections if bond payments are to be exempt from the limitation. No longer will bond elections be slipped past the public at low turnout special elections held at odd times during the year. Since bonding represents future tax obligations, voters have a right to decide the merits of each bond proposal during a high-profile election. 4. State and local taxes and spending will be prohibited from growing faster than our economy. This is the tax limitation law enacted by the Legislature ten years ago which was never implemented. Government will be able to increase its budget only as our population and personal income increases. During the last ten years, state and local taxes in Utah have grown 196, while population has increased only 30 and per capita personal income has increased only 99. This "tax and spend mentality" has contributed to Utah's present economic crisis and threatens the very future of our state unless Initiative A is adopted in November. Initiative A has been carefully written over a four -year period after studying the tax limitation measures passed in other states and after considering the needs of Utah's governments, schools, and taxpayers. The measure is considered con-sidered by many experts to be the most reasonable, yet comprehensive tax limitation initiative ever to be voted on anywhere in the nation. If this initiative passes, we can expect to see economic growth and a renewed hope in the future of the state and our ability to hold on to our homes and businesses. State and local government will once again be responsive to the will of the people. If the initiative fails to receive voter approval, we can expect to see a flood of tax increases at the state and local level and a continuation of the exodus of families and businesses from our state. Utah may well become a "ghost town" state with the remaining Utahns paying the high cost of educating our young people, only to send them to other states to find employment. VOTE FOR THE FUTURE OF UTAH VOTE "FOR" INmATTVE A Jack A. Olson Utah Taxpayers Association 1578 West 1700 South Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 |