Guv, Utahns agree: Give teachers $$

Utahns agree with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that the best use for the state's growing surplus is raising teacher salaries, according to a Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll.

Two-thirds of Utahns surveyed said they believe the top priority for using the surplus should be increasing teacher pay. Fifteen percent wanted the extra revenues to go toward a tax cut, and 6 percent said it should be spent on "other worthy state programs."

Utahns also side with the governor on which tax cut they would want if the 2008 Legislature decides that's the way to go — 47 percent said they prefer further reducing the sales tax on food.

Twenty percent, though, cited further cutting state income tax, and 23 percent wanted a reduced property tax. The statewide poll by Dan Jones & Associates of 410 Utah residents was conducted June 26-28 and has a margin of error of 5 percent.

The surplus is expected to be as much as $260 million for the budget year that ended Saturday, once all tax receipts are in. That's on top of the record $1.7 billion in one-time money and ongoing revenue growth that lawmakers had to spend in the 2007 Legislature.

While some of that cash went toward a $220 million tax cut that included trimming more of the sales tax on food, education — including teachers — saw a significant increase in funding during the past legislative session.

Huntsman said during his June monthly press conference on KUED Channel 7 that his top priority for the surplus is another pay increase for teachers, whom he said are still paid some $5,000 less in Utah than in other states in the region.

"We need to recognize teachers for what they truly are worth," the governor's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said. "It's something that's going to need more work in the years to come. It's not something that can be fixed in one fell swoop."

Next on the governor's list is helping Utahns without health insurance, possibly through a mandatory but affordable state policy that would provide at least catastrophic coverage.

Huntsman would next focus on improving Utah's air quality, which he described as awful in the state's metropolitan areas. Just what that and his other proposals would cost, though, remains to be seen.

"These are the things that are most concerning Utahns throughout the state, so he feels it's imperative that they be addressed in the next legislative session," Roskelley said. The budget the governor delivers at the end of the year will reflect his priorities, she said.

It's not clear yet if his budget will include tax cuts. "Tax cuts are not among the governor's priorities, but certainly if tax cuts are part of the package, then taking the sales tax off food would be the mechanism he would support," Roskelley said.

Huntsman, who is running for a second term in 2008, included a $100 million tax cut in the $10.7 billion budget he proposed last year. He succeeded in getting lawmakers to cut the state income-tax rate to 5 percent as part of a $220 million tax-cut package.

That compromise package also included cutting the sales tax on food as well as the general sales-tax rate. Lawmakers wanted — and got — a bigger and more extensive tax-cut package than the governor sought, something they will likely to push for again in 2008.

Pollster Dan Jones said the survey results are not surprising, since Utahns traditionally support spending on education over tax cuts. The governor, Jones said, is "very, very aware of the issues the public talks about and thinks about."

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E-mail: lisa@desnews.com