Utahns could receive the largest tax cut in state history next year.

In a closed, daylong caucus meeting Tuesday, House Republicans decided to support a tax cut of $230 million — four times the cut proposed Friday by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. in his recommended 2006-07 budget.

If approved, it would surpass an approximately $100 million tax cut given in 1996 as the state's largest tax cut ever.

The $230 million would account for almost a quarter of the $1 billion surplus that lawmakers will be working with during the upcoming legislative session when they tackle the $9.6 billion budget. With some legislators concerned about the potential for a 25 percent growth in state government, House budget manager Ron Bigelow, R-West Valley, said using a big chunk of the surplus for a tax cut would help stem that growth.

"We wanted to make a significant reduction," Bigelow said. "There's a lot of money — a billion dollars — so we felt like there needed to be a bigger cut."

If a large tax cut is not given, Bigelow said Utah's non-federal, state-generated revenues would approach 25 percent state government growth, unprecedented in Utah's history.

The caucus did not support any specific tax reductions, Bigelow said, although he suspects the eventual proposal will include a mix of rate reductions and cuts. Those could include a reduction or removal of the sales tax on food, the passage of a "flatter" 5 percent income tax, or a reduction in business taxes.

While the tax cut was the biggest difference between House Republicans and Huntsman, the caucus did propose other changes to the budget. Chief among those proposals would be putting $200 million of one-time money into transportation and $100 million into buildings.

Those numbers are different from Huntsman's budget, which included a mix of ongoing, one-time and bond money for a $243 million increase in transportation funding. New building construction was to receive $188 million for areas like higher education, research labs for the University Science, Technology and Research Initiative, liquor stores and a fish hatchery.

The size of the proposed tax cut came as a surprise to Huntsman, especially since House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, had been talking about slicing closer to $100 million from tax revenue. Despite that, the governor's office was careful Tuesday not to sound critical.

"We felt the governor's budget did a good job of balancing the need for meaningful tax reform along with ever-increasing needs in education, transportation and state employee compensation," said Mike Mower, the governor's deputy chief of staff and spokesman. "We're comfortable with the position we've drawn. We recognize the legislative process entails give and take on both sides."