Huntsman doesn't see much more to be done in an overall attempt to give business more tax breaks — there may be some targeted efforts ahead — and "there is not much interest" in trying to extend the sales tax into service areas, either, he said.

"We are going to stay focused on the bottom line — watching how our growing economy evolves while making sure we can pay for essential services," Huntsman said.

Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake, one of the more liberal lawmakers, says that the Legislature acted properly in cutting taxes the past several years, even with all the demands on critical state programs.

"We did have real, sizable revenue surpluses," says McCoy. And public education and other programs were still treated well. "We still have to pump as much as we can into public education, and we have."

But McCoy still worries about a softening Utah economy and dropping state tax revenues. Currently, the state can cover reduced revenues from the tax cuts because of a growing economy, so the real test for the tax cuts will come when the economy slows.

"We need to make sure we still have the necessary resources over the next few years" to take care of social and education programs while building huge road projects, he said. Still, he said that "as of now" the tax cuts were the right thing to do.

But Utah Education Association executive director Susan Kuziak wonders if, even with all the new monies put into state programs, conservative lawmakers and Huntsman would be willing to raise taxes, rather than cut programs, should revenues fall off. She also was skeptical about how much real impact individuals would feel because of the cuts.

"The true consequences of these tax cuts, long term, remain to be seen," says Kuziak, who runs the largest teacher union in the state. "I think the Legislature did what the public wanted. But it is too early to say that it was the right thing."

A good tax system is broad-based and stable. And while the new flat-rate income tax may result in those goals, at least to a small extent, cutting the food sales tax actually narrows the state's sales tax base, not a good thing for tax purists.

A new study by the University of Utah's Center for Public Policy & Administration, comparing Utah's tax systems with those of surrounding states, shows that Utah's sales tax system is fraught with special exemptions.

For example, Utah taxes just 57 out of 168 services — like haircuts — notes the study's authors, Janis Dubno and Levi Pace. Thus, the state taxes just 34 percent of the ever-growing public and personal service industries. A special two-year tax study committee, which ended its work last year, decided not to recommend any great extension of the sales tax into service areas — like health care, attorneys' fees, lawn care, house cleaning and so on.