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Show Spotlighting UTAH I Assertions Answered An organized effort is now being be-ing made by certain groups whose specific interests lie in the development of through-state through-state highways to deprive the Utah Department of Publicity and Industrial Development of its present source of operating revenue namely only the surplus sur-plus funds left from the motor vehicle registration fees. To clear up the confusion and misunderstanding relative this subject, the Publicity Department Depart-ment has prepared and dispatched dis-patched a letter to the groups mentioned above setting straight for once and for all, the facts relative the use of state funds for the operation of the department. It is hoped that after the facts are known, that the continued use of this money by the Department of Publicty and Industrial Development Devel-opment will have the unanimous unani-mous approval of all. Denies Diversion of Funds Denying any so-called d'ver- i sion of funds, the letter says in i part: ! 1. There has been no di- ' version of (tny funds legally as- ! signed to highway purposes. 2. No Federal Aid Road' Matching Funds have been, o can be, lost to the state hecr.usr of any motor registration fee; that are transferred to the D navtiiient oC Publicity and Industrial In-dustrial Development. 3. Work on the hifthwnvs o Utah has been neither clelnyo, nor prevented hoc.n..-e of m.iv transferred to this departmer." The inability of the state tr complete all its rontcm i:ate; road projects in lfi !6 is due t a shortage of materials and capable personnel, not t r shortage of funds. 4 Funds which are assi -no ' to this Department by the 1p',-:s lature would, even if they .c-diverted .c-diverted to the State Road Cnm mtion. be an extremelv rr.'r.r, factor in the buiMinj: of r.e ('(' highways within the sta.e. Unfortunate Situation It is up.fortna:i per"' or the letter, that no rr.r-rnNv r' the groups rrferred to in first paragraph, nor any p or at their meetings, has e . made any attotr.pt to pi i;r the matter with the Depart ment relative to the scope o. importance of the projects in which surplus motor vehicle registration funds are heirs c ued for the development of a great tourist industry aiong with other income-producing activities. ac-tivities. Never Received Gas Tax Money j Continuing, the letter empha- tically declares that the gaso- line tax fund is set up for and ! used exclusively by the State i Road Commission "for purposes outlined by law. The Depart- j ment of Publicity and Indus- : trial Development has never j received one dollar of gasoline tax money. In explanation, it is pointed out that the motor vehicle registration, reg-istration, or auto license plate fee fund was set up by the 1917 legislature as a revenue meas- , ure, not of necessity dedicated I to the sole benefit of any group i or purpose. It is quite incongruous incong-ruous to think, says the letter, of a "Cigarette User Tax" as having to be administered solely sol-ely for the benefit of those who smoke cigarettes. On the other oth-er hand, the groups mentioned in the first paragraph insist that the surplus motor vehicle funds be used solely to benefit them. No Matching Funds Lost Great stress, declares the letter, has been placed on a supposed loss to Utah in not being be-ing able to obtain all possible Federal Aid Matching Funds for roads. It has Deen inferred that because of the Publicity Department's use of surplus motor mo-tor vehicle funds, that the State has lost Federal Aid Matching Funds for roads. As a mater of fact, not a dollar of matching funds has ever been lost because or any money transferred to the Department of Publicity. The letter points . out specifically specif-ically that under the state law no money can be transferred to the Department of Publicity and Industrial Development if one dollar of feceral matching road funds is thus placed in jeopardy. The only money available to the Department of Publicity under state statutes, is any surplus in excess of the SS00.-000 SS00.-000 which must be set aside out of 'motor vehicle registration funds for county and city roads, plus the cost of collection and administration, plus any other legal charges that may be placed against the fund. Dept. Receives Small Amount Further proof that use of surplus sur-plus motor vehicle monies by tne Publicity Department has never delayed or prevented road construction in Utah can be obtained from the State Road Commission, the letter points out, and declares that "the average av-erage annual amount received by the Publicity Department since its inception from the surplus of the registration fees is only S3S3,023.91." On the other hand, it is pointed out, the gasoline tax for 1946 is about So,000,000. Add to this the federal matching funds of S4,600,000, and it shows a total of more than 59,600,000 available avail-able to the State Road Commission Com-mission for the improvement of Utah's highway system. It is quite inconceivable, that the small sum of S3S3.023.91 spent for the operation of the Publicity Public-ity Department, less than 4 per cent of the total available to the State Road Commission from gas tax money could spell the difference between success and failure in the state highway system, the letter con-eludes. |