One reason the task force was formed by Huntsman and the 2005 Legislature is that an in-depth tax study by former Gov. Olene Walker released last December shows that the tax bases of the state's two main sources of revenue — the individual and corporate income tax and the sales tax — are actually decreasing.

A perfect storm appears to be coming, said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper. Stephenson has worked for the Utah Taxpayers Association for 28 years and been in the Senate for 13, he said.

"I've never had more hope for significant, important changes in the Utah tax structure," Stephenson said. New leadership in the House and Senate, a new governor dedicated to "helping Utah's tax and regulatory system to make it attractive for higher-paying jobs," a dwindling tax base and a changing economy are all combining at one time, he said.

But Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, a tax attorney, warned that there are only two ways for the task force's recommendations to end; two "immutable laws" of tax reform that can't be changed:

"If you are going to have revenue neutrality —taxes not going up or down overall — you will have winners and losers. Some people will pay more, some pay less" than now.

"And if you make any real changes" to a current tax system, to simplify or make it more fair, "you will have either revenue increases (to government) or decreases."

Tax reform can't be a code word for tax increases, warned Valentine. He personally won't vote for that. "We can reduce taxes and still meet our goals" of reforming Utah's tax system.

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E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com