Governor to 'donate' heavily to tax coffers

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. is selling all of his stock in the $9.5 billion family chemical firm and will be paying millions of dollars in state capital gains taxes.

Which leads to the question: Should legislative leaders fund a few Huntsman-desired state programs, considering he's actually paying for them next year?

"Hey, I never thought of that," smiled Senate President John Valentine, an Orem tax attorney who knows Utah's taxes inside and out. "Yeah, maybe we can do something for him."

House Speaker Greg Curtis, also an attorney, noted that it's likely difficult to know exactly how much Huntsman will be getting for his stock until Security and Exchange Commission reports, required when major stockholders sell out, are filed later this year.

But Curtis, too, may be willing to cut Huntsman some slack on "a few small state projects, considering he's such a substantial state taxpayer."

The banter is all in good humor. And no one is suggesting that the Legislature would actually make an accommodation for such a big personal taxpayer.

But behind the laughter, maybe there's a bit of politics, too.

Noted Valentine, with a grin: "I'd be willing to give (Huntsman) $3 million for the LeRay McAllister Open Space fund. I know that's one of his priorities" in spending for fiscal 2005-06, which starts July 1.

Could Huntsman get a trail or open field named after him?

"Nah, I don't know about that," Valentine said.

However, $3 million bucks is about right.

The Deseret Morning News attempted to calculate just how much the governor may owe in state capital gains taxes.

Huntsman LLC had its first public stock offering last Friday, with shares jumping 8 percent in early trading. The governor has declined to say exactly how much stock he holds.

However, it is publicly known that the Huntsman family owns 51 percent of the firm. The largest privately held chemicals firm in the world is valued by various analysts at $9.5 billion.

Based on how much the governor holds in the family firm, just under 2 percent, one could calculate he holds around $50 million in stock. Assuming he owes capital gains on all of that value, he'd owe about $3.2 million in state capital gains taxes, several certified public accountants said.

Last Friday, Huntsman reaffirmed to the News that he will sell all of his Huntsman stock as soon as he can, although that may take several months because of market demand and principal-sale restrictions.