The Rest of the Story
While income tax reform is the big news of the day at the Utah Legislature, another element of the tax issue, albeit more subtle, could be a lesson in Practical Politics 101.
With the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and other influential business interests pushing for legislation to allow Salt Lake County to increase sales tax instead of property tax to pay for mass transit expansion, the House and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. were on board.
But the Senate seemed to be wavering, which wasn't necessarily a good sign for Senate President John Valentine, who was backing the change and just happens to be among the handsomely compensated member of Zions Bank's Board of Directors.
Zions officials are among the leaders in the attempt to change the funding from property tax to sales tax and Valentine, it is presumed, should be able to carry some weight with his leadership position.
So, voila!, the legislation was changed so other counties could raise the sales tax for their own improvements, most notably airport improvements.
Two of the holdouts for the change were Republican Sens. Bill Hickman of St. George and Lyle Hillyard of Logan (both areas that need and want airport improvements.)
Expect the proposal to pass the Senate today and we'll see how Hillyard and Hickman vote.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
With the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and other influential business interests pushing for legislation to allow Salt Lake County to increase sales tax instead of property tax to pay for mass transit expansion, the House and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. were on board.
But the Senate seemed to be wavering, which wasn't necessarily a good sign for Senate President John Valentine, who was backing the change and just happens to be among the handsomely compensated member of Zions Bank's Board of Directors.
Zions officials are among the leaders in the attempt to change the funding from property tax to sales tax and Valentine, it is presumed, should be able to carry some weight with his leadership position.
So, voila!, the legislation was changed so other counties could raise the sales tax for their own improvements, most notably airport improvements.
Two of the holdouts for the change were Republican Sens. Bill Hickman of St. George and Lyle Hillyard of Logan (both areas that need and want airport improvements.)
Expect the proposal to pass the Senate today and we'll see how Hillyard and Hickman vote.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
1:18 PM
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