Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY -- Advocates for the hungry and a coalition of faith-based groups are asking Utah lawmakers not to bring back the sales tax on food.
At Hildegard's Pantry, run by St. Mark's Cathedral, the need for assistance has gone up 200 percent since 2007, according to Deacon Elizabeth Hunter.
"We had about 900 households coming through our pantry in 2007 in a typical month, and now we're at 3,000 households a month," she says. "These are people who are standing in line for multiple hours to get a three- or four-day supply of food. These are not people who have extra food. They aren't hoarding food. These are people who have desperate needs."
Hunter says the idea, floated by some, of offering a tax rebate on food doesn't help people who need the assistance now.
"The majority of our customers would not file taxes. They're disabled. They're on fixed incomes. They're senior citizens. They're not people who [could] wait a year," says Hunter.
Gina Cornia, executive director of Utahns Against Hunger, says people who are struggling to feed their families are in no position to shoulder the burden of balancing the state budget.
"We are third in the country for the number of households who are accessing food stamps," Cornia says. She adds, people in Utah are generous, but the increase in demand has stretched all the available resources to the limit, and she feels a tax would just add to the need.
The Rev. Steven Klemz says it's more than just a request.
"In fact, [we're] demanding that the poor do not pay more, that there is no consideration for increased sales tax on food," he says.
Klemz describes such a tax as regressive, adding that 65 percent of Utahns don't want to see it happen.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
