Taxing to the limit
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Sunday, September 23, 2007
Two months ago, the Northern Utah Transportation Alliance had to be thinking they'd have a fairly easy time convincing voters to approve a quarter-cent sales tax increase for transportation infrastructure, transit projects and corridor preservation in our region of the state.
Then Davis and Weber counties started mailing out their annual property tax valuations.
Can you say "tax fatigue"?
The Transportation Alliance is a collection of public officials and chambers of commerce that recognize the symbiotic relationship between economic development and growth, and the sufficient funding of newer, better roads and mass transit.
But those property tax increases are more than a fly in the proverbial ointment -- they're a dead and stinking skunk in the living rooms of voters across the region.
Faced with double-digit, and in some cases even triple-digit, percentage increases in their property tax bills, property owners -- who actually take the time to vote -- are understandably wigging out. They're flooding county offices with valuation appeals, cramming legislative hearings on property taxes at the state Capitol and writing angry letters to the editor.
Our guess would be that the prospect of voluntarily adding another quarter cent to every dollar they spend is probably plummeting as a priority on their to-do lists as they look forward to casting ballots Nov. 6.
The argument from the Northern Utah Transportation Alliance makes sense: The Top of Utah needs the money for transportation infrastructure if it has any hope of keeping pace with our explosive growth, and doing it as inexpensively as possible in the face of rapidly escalating construction costs.
But it's also true that the recent property tax jolt alters, negatively, the financial outlook of many Top of Utah residents. At a time when it looks as though there will be no meaningful, long-term relief from soaring property taxes, voting to give even more of their hard-earned dollars to government is an offensive prospect.
We're not sure yet where we stand on the transportation-tax question. But as individuals on this newspaper's editorial board who live with our families and work in the Top of Utah, we know how we feel about having our property taxes jacked up all at once: It prompts us to believe there must be a better way of doing business.
As we formulate our position on the proposed transportation tax increase and the continuing property tax mess, we'd like to hear what you have to say. Please take the time to write us a letter (332 Standard Way, P.O. Box 12790, Ogden, Utah, 84412). If it's under 250 words and includes your name, address and phone number, we'll share it on this page in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 6 election.
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