OCR Text |
Show 18th Legislature of. the State of Utah Special Session 1930 State Capitol The Special Session ef the Utah Legislature is to be ad-j.nnii-d on Feb., 2jth. nnd a great deal of ti'.r measure work is necessary of coarp'ietiou before adjournment time. Tho senate has been rapid In its prr-su having pa-Js-d S. J. Ii. 3. cre-I'.iin,' cre-I'.iin,' the tax commission; S. J. It. 2, providing ch'ssifieation of property; a i.ill appropriating $20,1-00 for the capita! cap-ita! grounds; another providing $."0-0-!'J gas tax money to be used to pa.ve the roads around the capitol : the bank resolution is on third reading; read-ing; the Ryan plan to drop the multiple mul-tiple system of mine taxation has been defeated ; the senate is considering the McCarthy proposal to let the tax commission handle mines as the utilities utili-ties eommision handles utilities. Should the house committee plans carry in the house, the senate and hor.se will differ on some points. The principal difference being in the matter mat-ter of mine taxation. After much discussion the senate finally wrote a provision into S. J. R. No. 2 that the mine 'multiple of three i could not be changed for six years. Members of the house have deo'.ared that the mine problem will be kept out of the house bill and if it gets before be-fore the people at all it will be as a separate amendment and must stand 'or drop ou Its merits. Rep. Critchlow introduced a proposal propos-al to tack mine taxation onto H. J. R. No. 1, the clasification measure as a rider but lost. It is likely that the subject will be brought up again. As a last resort the multiple adherents may endeavor to get the six year delay clause written in the house bill. A strong onslaught on the offset provision is to be looked for iu the house. The senate has declared that the legislature must provide offsets or deductions. This means that a part of the property tax will be applied on the income tax in cases where the taxpayer has to pay both. The amount of offset is left up to the legislature. The tax commission and its expert, Dr. Lutz, has asserted that offsets will kill the income tax plan in actual operation. The sponsors of the offset plan declare de-clare it will prevent double taxation. The senate is sure it wants offsets and the house has not yet acted upon the question. The senate has evaded the matter of limits on income taxes. The house committee wants the limit on personal person-al income taxes placed at G per cent and the business excise at 4 per cent. This is a question on which an agreement between the house and senate sen-ate will have to be reached. The senate killed the two-thirds plan, which would have meant that a two-thirds vote of the legislature would be needed to change tax rates. The house and senate will have to agree on the wording of the amend ments to the state constitution. On one amendment, that proposing to create a tsate tax commission with strong powers of control over local budgets and tax levies, the two houses are largely in agreement and little difficulty is foreseen in working out the small difference that does exist. This amendment as proposed in S. J. R. 3 has been passed by the senate and with only one small amendment to clarify it, the house has practically completed its consideration of this plan and is ready to vote on the proposal. pro-posal. Agreement is yet to Joe reached on the classification of property amendment. amend-ment. The legislature also has before it the following questions : Amendment of the state building program to allow the use of inmate labor on building projects at state institutions. in-stitutions. To provide an additional $175,000 for a building at the mental hospital. To authorize a separate building at the mental hospital instead of an addition to the main building. To authorize a gymnasium at the Industrial school instead of an additional ad-ditional building and hospital. The memorial urging Congress to amend the federal bank tax act. The memorial urging Congress to provide federal aid for old age pensions. pen-sions. The proposals for classification of property and creation of the state tax commission are the only two fundamental funda-mental changes in the organic law recommended re-commended by the tax commission nnd their passage was the purpose for cal ling the special session. The near future will have to see the passage of these measures and if the senate refuses to accept the amendments amend-ments made in the house on the property prop-erty classification, the working out of a basis of agreement will have to bo arranged. Considerable interest is centered on H. J. R. No. 7, by Rep. Chas. Redd ot San Juan county, which proposes to amend the constitution to read : "All metalliferous mines or mining clK.!ms, both placer and rock, shall be assessed assess-ed at full value by thetax commission as provided by law. "All other mines or mining claims and other valuable mineral deposits including lands containing coal or hydrocarbons, shall be assessed at their full value. All machinery used in mining and all property or surface improvements upon or appurtenant to mines or mining claims, and the value of any surface use made of mining claims, or mining property for other than mining purposes, shall be assessed assess-ed at full value. The state tax commission com-mission shall assess all property herein here-in enumerated. |