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Show By Harry Marlowe j The more you look at government govern-ment operations, the more you become impressed by the fact that government and individuals are mostly alike they all could use more money. And that quest for money will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, headaches of a 1955 Utah Legislature which is likely to run into several pressing problems prob-lems before its 00-day session is over. Whatever actions the legis- Ilators take this session, the prop- I erty owners of the state will watch closely. For, even more than usual, it is clear that thej property owner is in the direct, 1 line of fire if the Legislature! ! should resort to increased taxes' to operate government. Personal Interest And, since legislators for the most part are property owners j too, there will be some strenu-j ous efforts made to either cuti state spending or find new rev-, enues or both. The men who have long experience with legislating leg-islating and who have kept an eye on state revenues and expenditures ex-penditures over the years, seemingly seem-ingly are more alarmed this year than ever. Not only is the state's departmentalized depart-mentalized government asking for some $8,000,000 more than anticipated revenue, there are alarming indications that the sales tax "cure all fund" is beginning be-ginning to show signs of strain. The sales tax revenue has been tapped by every legislature to make up deficits in the general fund after appropriations have) been made. It has met that test without too much trouble in the past, and has still held up to welfare costs, building funds land other uses set by law. Another Outlet In the last couple of sessions, however, the sales tax money ; has been tapped for education first a million or so for emer-1 gency building aid, and last ses-1 sion, by a whopping $o500.000 bite per year for the minimum school fund. If there is to be any j building out of the state building fund, if there is to be much of an increase in the welfare program, pro-gram, etc., the sales tax revenue is going to be hard put to produce pro-duce that $13,000,000 per bien-nium bien-nium for the schools. And, if the sales tax can't come up with money for schools, there must either be a cut in education funds or the money must come from income, in-come, corporation and property taxes. There is another alternative. If another source of revenue can be found, there will still be some money for the school and other governmental units. With no property tax hike. The catch Is . . where is the revenue coming from? Anyone having the answer will get an open-armed welcome on Capitol Hill. |