A matter of trust

Proposition 3 in Salt Lake County and an "Opinion Question" in Utah County will ask voters in November to increase their countywide sales tax by one-quarter cent to fund transportation projects. The Deseret Morning News editorial board has long endorsed smart growth strategies, which includes a sensible regional transportation plan utilizing light rail, commuter rail and highway construction. We believe Proposition 3 and Utah County's Opinion Question are steps in the right direction.

However, it is unclear at this point how the estimated $1 billion-plus in sales tax revenue that the measures would glean would be spent by state lawmakers. Legislative leaders announced Wednesday that they will not establish a specific list of projects before the Nov. 7 election. In other words, when voters in Salt Lake and Utah counties go to the polls, they won't know precisely what their quarter-cent sales tax increase will buy them.

This is a punt of the worst kind. Lawmakers say they don't want to rush into establishing a list. But these issues are hardly novel. County governments, mayors and other leaders in both counties have undergone extensive study of these projects in consultation with the Utah Transit Authority, Utah Department of Transportation and regional planning authorities. Clear recommendations have been established. The heavy lifting is done.

Could it be that legislative leaders don't want to establish a projects list before the Nov. 7 election because of the impacts it may pose on their House and Senate leadership races? Shouldn't giving Salt Lake and Utah county voters the courtesy of casting informed ballots on Salt Lake County's Proposition 3 and Utah County's Opinion Question be a higher priority?

The Legislature's announcement that it will not establish a projects list is particularly disconcerting considering that the lawmakers themselves — in a special session — authorized the counties to ask voters to hike sales taxes for transit projects. Lawmakers, after all, chose this option over a statewide sales tax. The county-option measures halted an earlier proposal by Salt Lake County to ask voters for a large property tax hike to fund specific transit projects.

In fairness, there are many ballot measures that do not give crystal-clear information on how tax levies will be spent. Some are intentionally vague — such as the open-space initiative in Salt Lake County — for fear that identifying specific projects would drive up the price of real estate. Other measures, such as for school construction bonds, provide voters with highly detailed project lists, as they should.

The transit issue is different in that residents of Salt Lake and Utah counties will be ponying up the funds — about $96 a year per household in additional sales tax amounting to more than $1 billion in both counties over 30 years. That's a lot of money and lengthy time commitment. Voters deserve to know — with reasonable specificity — where this would go.