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Richard Piatt ReportingAre you in the mood to pay higher taxes for trains into and through Salt Lake County? That's the question tax payers and lawmakers will be facing next week in a special session.
Rush hour gridlock is obvious. TRAX and commuter rail are popular alternatives. The question is: Which tax should get raised in order to pay for it all? That question is most pressing in Salt Lake County, where voters could decide on either a property tax or sales tax increase for TRAX extensions.
First the Legislature will decide whether to permit the sales tax option in Tuesday's special session, to replace the property tax hike. What they do could also make this a statewide question that would mean higher sales tax for roads and rail.
How do your fellow Utahns feel about all that? According to a Dan Jones poll for KSL and the Deseret Morning news, most people favor a tax increase of some sort -- 56 percent of the 412 surveyed are for it, 38 percent oppose a tax increase for transit.
There is a strong preference for a sales tax increase over a property tax increase for transit: 65 to 19 percent. A lot of people say it spreads the burden around better.
The Legislature may tweak the law to allow a statewide sales tax hike. But just 32 percent like that idea, according to the poll. Most, 61 percent, favor a vote on a county-by-county basis.
Visions of even worse wall to wall traffic is driving this debate. At the same time, there are opponents worried about making sure taxpayer money is spent wisely.
Keith Rattie, Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors: "In just a few years we're going to face gridlock if we don't act and act soon to invest in highways and mass transit."
Mike Jerman, Utah Taxpayers Association: "Right now, what we're doing is saying, ‘let's spend some money.' The question is, are we spending it as effectively as we need to?"
The question of how or whether to raise taxes is not an easy one and that could drag out the fast mass-transit solution a lot of people are looking for.
