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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Overwhelming majorities of Utah residents support reducing the state income tax and wiping out the sales tax on food, according to a new poll.
The poll found that 75 percent of residents favor dropping the personal income tax rate from 7 percent to a 4.9 percent "flatter" rate. The change would reduce state revenue about $70 million.
Eighty-three percent support cutting the food tax by 2 percentage points, as the Legislature did in the session that ended March 1. The poll also found that 77 percent favor removing the food sales tax altogether.
The Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll was conducted by Dan Jones & Associates, which interviewed 412 residents from March 14 to March 16. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.
Gov. Jon Huntsman, who supports reducing both the income and food taxes, was pleased with the results, released Sunday.
"I think Utahns are interested in significant tax reform; and the poll numbers verify that," Huntsman said in a copyright story of the Deseret Morning News.
Huntsman will call a special session of the Legislature in May to take up the $70-million income tax cut. His proposal failed to get a vote in the House in the final hours of the 2006 session. Huntsman said he's confident the House will support the measure.
Jones also found that 52 percent of Utah residents approve of the job the Legislature did in its general session. That is down from a 56 percent approval rating measured during the 45-day session.
"My neighbors tell me that this was seen as an acrimonious session," said Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem.
The food tax question is settled until at least next year, with the current state tax of 4.75 percent on food sales being lowered to 2.75 percent.
Rep. John Dougall, R-Highland, who sponsored the income tax cut bill, said it will take a lot of work to convince House members why the change is a good idea.
The House, Senate and Huntsman agreed on $160 million in tax cuts for next year. They broke that out as $70 million for food tax, $70 million for income tax, and $20 million for business tax cuts. The food and businesses taxes were acted on, but the income tax bill died in the House the final night.
Huntsman has found himself between divided houses: The Senate favors income tax reductions but is against removing all of the state sales tax on food; the House favors removing all of the food tax but is reluctant to adopt the lower rate income tax and removing many deductions.
Removing the sales tax on unprepared food would narrow the state's tax base, "making the tax much more volatile," Valentine said. In bad times, the sales tax revenues would drop more; in good times, they would grow more sharply, he said.
"In bad times we would either have to significantly cut services or raise some other taxes. The Senate doesn't want to do either," Valentine said.
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Information from: Deseret Morning News, http://www.deseretnews.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
