Education — It's No. 1 issue, but lawmakers also to focus on tax cuts

GOP House members want a $300 million tax cut — much of it coming from reducing or eliminating the state's property tax for schools — while saying they, too, will adequately fund schools. The basic-levy property tax all goes to public education.

Senate Republicans haven't identified a specific amount for tax cuts, but leaders back a tax cut coming through reducing or eliminating the basic-levy property tax. Wiping out the tax would cut property taxes by $243 million.

Too much, not enough

Meanwhile, minority Democrats are pointing to various public opinion polls claiming citizens really want to pump extra tax dollars into schools and Human Services, not relatively small individual tax cuts.

But while 57 percent of Utahns favor some level of tax cuts this year, Jones found, only 37 percent did say they don't want any tax cuts at all. Instead, the respondents said they want the money spent on critical state needs, like education.

Curtis says if lawmakers ultimately decide to eliminate the property tax — called the "basic state levy tax" — then the $243 million that it would have raised this year will be replaced by the expanding state personal and corporate income tax revenues.

In other words, public education will not be financially harmed, Curtis told his House GOP caucus last week. But opponents of eliminating that tax say any cut in tax dollars that otherwise would flow to public education just takes away cash from a strapped school system.

"Here the (Republicans) are talking about specific tax cuts and we haven't even looked at the entire state budget yet," said House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake.

"Some tax cuts may be desirable, relief being right for certain sectors" of the citizenry, Becker said, but to start with this huge number — a $300 million tax cut — is the wrong way to look at state revenues. Needs must be weighed as well, Becker said, and that doesn't happen until budget subcommittees work through proposed spending plans in the early weeks of the session.

Valentine said he is optimistic the biggest decisions facing lawmakers will be made quickly in the session — how much to invest in education and transportation as well as how much to cut taxes. "Everything else will fall into place," he said.

However, at least one group believes a $300 million tax cut is not enough.

The House Conservative Caucus, made up of about 30 self-styled fiscal conservatives, believes that more should be done because of both the average growth in state government over the past six or seven years, and the huge tax surpluses of $1.6 billion that are coming this year and next.