Incrementalism, part 3: Bryan Gray of the Davis County Clipper
Bryan Gray of the Davis County Clipper gives us an opportunity to revisit the issue of incrementalism. We've previously written two posts on incrementalism. You can view those here and here....
View ArticleCurrent system for electing state board of education members is too easily...
Rep. Carl Wimmer is proposing partisan elections for the state board of education. Opponents criticize this as “politicizing” education.Reform opponents, however, don’t want voters to know how their...
View ArticleAre massive local sales tax increases for transportation “real” taxes?
Are massive local sales tax increases for transportation “real” taxes or just “pretend” taxes?To most people, this sounds like a strange question. “Of course, local sales taxes for transportation are...
View ArticleCongestion pricing and the environment
Congestion pricing is an issue that taxpayer advocates and environmentalists can rally behind. Environmentalists in other states and countries have been advocating for congestion pricing, and it's only...
View ArticleUtah School District Spending Report for FY2006
How does your school district spend your tax dollars compared to other Utah school districts?The Utah Taxpayers Association has just released its annual school district spending report. Click here to...
View ArticleMike's Top Twenty Political Songs
Later this week, we'll have the results of a report we've done on the disparity between charter school and district school funding.In the mean time, inspired by Rep. Urquhart's top ten movies list, we...
View ArticleCongestion Pricing and Maximizing Freeway Throughput
Transportation experts have demonstrated that congestion pricing can maximize highway throughput. Throughput is defined as the number of cars that cross a certain point on a freeway over a given amount...
View ArticleExplaining your property taxes
If you own property in Utah, you have most likely received a "notice of property valuation and tax change" from your county. Nearly everyone's property has increased dramatically. (Don't get too giddy...
View ArticleProperty Taxes, Part 1: How Truth-in-Taxation Works
Truth-in-Taxation is Utah’s most taxpayer-friendly law. It’s even better than California’s Prop 13 (more about that in a later post).How does Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) work?TNT is a revenue-driven...
View ArticleProperty Taxes, Part 2: why did my taxes go up?
Generally, when property valuations increase, property tax rates decrease to maintain revenue neutrality (excluding new growth). This revenue-neutral rate is called the certified tax rate. This rate is...
View ArticleWhat is Hogle Zoo Hiding?
Hogle Zoo is asking the Salt Lake County Council to place a $65 million bond before the voters this November. Although the Zoo’s bond is nearly TWICE the size of the $35 million Real S.L. stadium...
View ArticleThrowing kids together?
Kim Burningham is turning to the age-old canard of “diversity,” a common theme among voucher opponents. As he notes in yesterday’s Salt Lake Tribune, “We are best served by schools that throw children...
View Article$7,500 per Utah K-12 student in FY2008?
The Utah Taxpayers Association estimates that taxpayers will be spending more than $7,500 per student in FY2008. This figure includes operations, facility construction, and interest. It does not...
View ArticleProperty Taxes, Part 3: Truth-in-Taxation Results
We’ve discussed the theory and mechanics behind Truth-in-Taxation in parts 1 and 2. Now we’ll talk about the results.Property tax revenue growth before and after Truth-in-TaxationIn the six years (1980...
View ArticleProperty taxes, part 4: is Truth-in-Taxation harmful to local governments?
Opponents of Truth-in-Taxation (TNT) argue that TNT harms local governments because the calculation of the certified tax rate does not include inflationary adjustments. To offset inflationary losses,...
View ArticleFollowing up on $7,500 per student in FY2008
We’ve received some questions about our $7,500 per Utah K-12 student spending estimate for FY2008. Click here to see the original post. Here are our answers to the questions we’ve received.Does your...
View ArticleUtah's Toothless Spending Limit
The Utah Taxpayers Association's August newsletter has an article on pages 3 and 4 that explains Utah's spending limit and why it is ineffective at slowing government spending growth. In FY2008, total...
View ArticleFees + Taxes = Double Taxation?
Today's Deseret Morning Newsreports on the increased reliance on entrance fees to fund national and state parks. One of the persons quoted in the article suggested that having to pay taxes and fees is...
View ArticleCharter Schools Still Receive Less Funding Per Student than District Schools
In its September 2007 newsletter, the Utah Taxpayers Association has released an analysis of per student spending for district schools and charter schools for FY2006. After excluding lunch service and...
View ArticleState employee retirement: 30% or 100% taxpayer funded?
Utah state and local government employees, including school district employees, receive generous retirement benefits. Utah taxpayers cover 100% of the cost of state/local government employee retirement...
View ArticleUTOPIA'S FINANCIALS
Rep. Urquhart and Jesse Harris have recently been discussing questions regarding the financial position of UTOPIA on their respective blogs, www.steveu.com and www.freeutopia.org. Jesse Harris has...
View ArticleIf all goes as planned . . .
Holladay is proposing to subsidize retail activity and residential construction that will occur on its own in Salt Lake County even without a subsidy. Using tax dollars to stimulate this type of...
View ArticleWhy the Cottonwood Mall RDA is just plain wrong
In our last post, we noted why the Cottonwood Mall RDA is such a risky gamble. In this post, we’ll describe why the Cottonwood Mall RDA isn’t just risky—it’s just plain bad policy.The proposed...
View ArticleThe cost of smaller class sizes
Since the Legislative Auditor General released his report on the funds the Legislature appropriated to reduce the average class size in Utah, the pundits have been wringing their hands. Apparently to...
View ArticleFounding staff skipping out on iProvo, UTOPIA
Utah’s 2 largest municipal telecom systems are struggling to maintain their senior staff. UTOPIA’s founding executives—Paul Morris (Executive Director), Roger Black (COO) and David Shaw (General...
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