Utah's sales tax likely to rise for road projects

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 (AP) -- Here comes an increase in Utah's sales tax.

The increase would mean an additional 5 cents on a $100 purchase. It would not apply to food.

House and Senate leaders agreed to a higher tax Thursday as way to pay for road projects. It is expected to bring in $20 million a year to relieve congestion problems.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, says it works out to $9 per person a year. He calls it a tax shift because of other tax breaks under consideration in the Legislature.

Gov. Jon Huntsman hasn't endorsed it yet, but a spokeswoman says he's concerned about transportation.