Are tax hikes down the road?

Increases in sales tax, property tax and the state's per-gallon gasoline tax would generate billions of dollars for Utah's transportation needs, a nonprofit organization has found.

The Utah Foundation, a nonprofit, non-advocacy research organization, released a report Wednesday recommending how the state can pay for its many transportation needs such as major reconstruction to interstate freeways in Salt Lake, Davis and Utah counties.

While the foundation maintains it does not advocate such tax increases, it did attempt to calculate what certain tax hikes would accomplish.

Among those findings:

• Imposing an additional statewide sales tax of 0.25 percent would result in collections of $81.5 million a year; $4 billion over a 25-year period.

• A statewide property tax increase of 0.1 percent would generate $133 million each year and $5.2 billion in 25 years.

• Charging the current state sales tax on purchases of motor fuels would produce $93 million a year and a total of $4.8 billion over 25 years.

• Increasing the state's per-gallon gasoline tax by 5 cents a gallon would yield $68.7 million per year and a total of $2.4 billion over a 25-year period.

• Adjusting the gasoline tax for inflation, in addition to increasing it by 5 cents a gallon, would result in a total collection of $10.8 billion in 25 years rather than $2.4 billion.

The foundation's report, "Fueling our Future: Options for Financing Major Transportation Projects," can be viewed on the Internet at www.utahfoundation.org/reports.html.

"Utah, especially along the Wasatch Front, is facing a transportation crisis," Steve Kroes, executive director of the foundation, said in a press release.

"Highway congestion is getting worse and the planners say we have $23 billion in unfunded transportation projects designed to handle our growth. With a need that large, it's likely that significant tax increases will be discussed by policymakers."

The Wasatch Front Regional Council, in fact, is poised to recommend a group of tax and fee increases that would generate nearly $6 billion for transportation projects by 2015. The council, the metropolitan planning organization for the central and northern Wasatch Front, is scheduled to vote on that proposal this afternoon.

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