From Deseret News archives:
Governor unveils $11.7 billion budget
"We delivered record tax cuts the last couple of years," the governor said, adding it is now time for Utah to focus on using the ever-growing surplus to shore up "the pillars of strength in our state."
That may not sit well with some lawmakers, who are already looking at ways to address this year's outcry over big property tax hikes in many areas of the state. "I've heard it, but it hasn't been at an overwhelming volume level," the governor said of those concerns. Utahns, he said, need to remember the values of their homes have increased about 13 percent over the past year, the biggest boost in the nation.
Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, said legislators have heard "the plight of our citizens" when it comes to recent property tax increases and are considering a proposal to force local school districts to lower rates.
"I think there is significant interest in the property tax," Valentine said.
House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said he believes the House may want to give some "targeted" relief on the property tax. There are 14 individual levies, Curtis said, that a school district may impose on property, and maybe some of those could be combined and lowered, with the state picking up the cost and the Legislature thus ordering a small, but helpful, property tax cut on homes and businesses.
Huntsman said he's maintaining his priorities, but that it is too early to talk about possible vetoes.
Democrats, though, liked what they heard in Huntsman's no-tax-cut budget. "Generally speaking, we're pretty excited about the priorities he set," said House Minority Leader Brad King, D-Price. "It will be interesting to see how this budget battle goes down."
Speaking to the Deseret Morning News' editorial board later Monday, Huntsman said he has not seen any specific property tax reduction proposals and is not even sure that GOP lawmakers "are serious" in proposing a tax cut next year.
In his budget, Huntsman, a Republican who has said he'll seek a second four-year term in 2008, continued a trend started several years ago by asking for considerably more cash for public education, especially for teachers.
"We are reaffirming that teachers are back on a pedestal as they should be," Huntsman told a packed news conference Monday afternoon, joking that, "while the weather outside is frightful, my budget for teachers is delightful."
