Tax shifts opposed in Price, Vernal

PRICE — Concerned local government officials dominated the discussion at a pair of hearings, held Tuesday in Price and Vernal, to consider state tax reform.

One possible reform being evaluated by the Tax Reform Task Force would shift sales tax revenue to school districts and property tax to cities and counties. That proposal has become a sore spot for municipal leaders.

If the proposed statewide sales tax were passed, in fact, two cities that rely heavily on tourist traffic — Moab and Green River — would have to institute a municipal property tax. The mayors of both cities voiced their concerns to the task force during the Tuesday night hearing in Price.

Moab Mayor Dave Sakrison said a large portion of the almost $1 million his city collects annually in local-option sales tax is paid by tourists, who can outnumber residents six to one during the busiest periods of the year. That money is also what pays for the services needed by those tourists, he said.

"If we take this off the table and give it to school districts . . . we've shifted the whole burden," he said. "Tourists are paying for the impacts they have on our city."

Sakrison and Green River Mayor Glen Johnson said if they had to use property taxes to make up for the lost revenue, it would drastically hurt their residents since many of them work low-wage service jobs needed to support the tourists.

"It is impossible for low-income people to pay higher taxes," Johnson said. "That would be a big step backwards for us."

That assertion bothered some members of the task force, who questioned whether it was wise to give incentives to an industry that does not improve workers' lives. Some of the task force's other proposals, such as a reformed corporate income tax, are touted as ways to bring higher-paying jobs to the state.

At a separate hearing earlier Tuesday in Vernal, Uintah County officials told members of the task force that taking away sales tax revenue "would devastate" the city of Vernal and be equally harmful to Uintah County.

"If we relied as much on property tax as we do on sales tax, our property tax would have to be raised 1,000 percent," said Ken Bassett, Vernal's city manager and a member of the Utah League of Cities and Towns' tax team and legislative policy committee.

"Sales tax is a fair tax. We cannot run our local government that way. It would devastate local government."

Uintah County Commissioner Dave Haslem agreed, saying county residents would see their property taxes increase 3,000 percent if sales tax revenue is shifted to school districts.