Transit proposal seeks tax hike

The Wasatch Front's two metropolitan planning organizations presented a plan Wednesday that would raise various taxes and fees to finance $6 billion in statewide transportation needs over the next 10 years.

The proposed tax and fee hikes would cost the average Utah household about $350 a year.

The proposal, submitted jointly by the Wasatch Front Regional Council and Mountainlands Association of Governments, was given to the Utah Legislature's Transportation Planning Task Force. That group will discuss the proposal next week and likely incorporate some or all of it into a bill for consideration by the 2005 Legislature, which convenes in January.

"We're asking the Legislature to carefully examine the state's budget to see if there are revenues that could be redirected to transportation," said Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, who introduced the funding proposal to the task force on behalf of the WFRC.

"We have a long shopping list for you to choose from."

That list was longer three weeks ago when the WFRC approved a recommendation for tax and fee hikes that would raise more than $23.6 billion for road and transit projects over the next 25 years. But when WFRC and MAG representatives got together earlier this week, they decided to focus on a smaller $6 billion, 10-year plan.

"I don't believe that you as legislators are going to approve a tax package to appropriate approximately $1 billion a year for the next 30 years," Dolan conceded to task force members. "We simply cannot afford to fund every worthy project."

That being said, WFRC believes the $23.6 billion figure represents the state's unfunded transportation needs — including reconstruction of I-15 in Utah and Davis counties, building the Legacy Parkway in southern Davis County, extending the TRAX light-rail system in Salt Lake County and introducing commuter rail service between Weber and Utah counties.

Rural Utah also has maintenance and construction needs that would be paid for through the urban planners' proposal. But because some taxes and fees would be localized in areas of greatest need (the Wasatch Front), rural Utahns likely would pay less than the $350 in annual costs estimated by the two planning groups.

"This is the first time I can remember that the full picture of what we are facing (with regard to transportation needs and funding) has been presented," Rep. John Dougall, R-American Fork, said after the planning groups' presentation.

"Economic development in our future is very dependent upon transportation in any metropolitan area."

Here are some of the funding mechanisms the urban planners have suggested for generating $6 million from 2005-15:

• Impose a statewide sales tax on gasoline, equal to current sales tax levels.