Lawmakers eyeing big tax changes

And Huntsman has talked about a "flatter" state income tax, one that doesn't increase taxes on lower-income Utahns.

Sales tax made simple

Harper's single-rate sales tax plan would certainly simplify a system that now sees dozens of tax rates in different cities, towns and unincorporated counties.

But to get one statewide rate you'd have to eliminate the special, voter-approved sales taxes now applied in transit districts, resort towns or other areas whose citizens want the higher rates. The Zoo, Arts and Parks (ZAP) special sales tax would also be killed.

Harper's plan is to push those special sales tax collections — like Utah Transit Authority, Hogle Zoo or recreational areas like Park City — over to the property tax. Those special groups' funding wouldn't be harmed, he said. "The property tax is growing, and it is a more stable tax than the sales tax. Why object to that?"

Homes and businesses in some areas may see a small property tax increase through the shift, he says. But higher property taxes would be offset by the reduction in the sales tax rate, Harper explains.

However, in some rural areas, which now have a higher sales tax rate, the property tax hike may be so large that it would be unbearable. In those cases, the state would step in with some tax aid to keep local property taxes reasonable, Harper said.

Jerman said the association may support shifting such "boutique" sales taxes over to the property tax if the legislative-set school levy were reduced accordingly so there was no overall property tax hike.

Bramble says most tax problems with controversial redevelopment agencies — off-shoots of city or county governments that can condemn private property for "public" use — can be solved by allowing RDAs to take land for any reason, as long as a city or county RDA could only lock up its own property tax base to repay RDA borrowing.

That would allow a school district or other property-assessing entity to get its normal share of property taxes, and the RDA couldn't take anyone else's property tax growth. Bramble would allow a school district or special entity, by an affirmative vote of the district's board, to chose to join the RDA project. "It's local control, open government," said Bramble.

The change, he adds, would stop the current practice of a city locking up future property tax growth in a RDA district to the detriment of school or special district funding.

Ideas faltering