Jerman said the average Utah family is getting hit by taxes all the time, and they affect all kinds of family actions — from attending school to driving a car.

For the family making $62,667 a year (including the family's employer payroll taxes of $4,967), the family pays $15,877 in taxes — just more than 25 percent of their income.

The most visible of the tax, says Jerman, is the property tax. Renters, of course, pay their apartment owner's property tax through their rent. But homeowners see their property taxes each fall when they write a check to their local county treasurer.

The average family's property tax is $1,437 a year, said Jerman. Most of that ($790) goes to public schools. Assuming they live in a city, $263 goes toward city government, $289 to county government and $95 to special improvement districts — like water or sewer districts.

A lot of Utahns don't notice how much tax they pay for owning and driving a car, said Jerman. That's because outside of their yearly vehicle registration fees, they pay tax at the pump or when they buy a new set of tires and often don't notice taxes then.

Utah's 24.5-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax costs the average family $331 a year, with the federal gasoline tax taking $249 a year, Jerman said.

Other vehicle fees and taxes add up to $913 a year for a two-car family.

Even though the Legislature cut the state's share of the sales tax on unprepared food, the average family still spends a lot of tax dollars on eating, household furnishings, clothing and entertainment.

The average family spends just more than $27,000 a year on such items, paying $1,585 in taxes on them.

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