Yesterday’s Salt Lake Tribune published the results of a poll of voters on raising property taxes to speed up the timeline for TRAX projects by 15 years. An overwhelming majority of those polled favored such an increase.
The 2015 Transportation Alliance, a group of businesses affiliated with the Salt Lake Chamber, are pushing for a special session of the legislature to pass a 1 cent sales tax for the funding of transportation projects. This group states that a property tax increase would place an “unfair burden” on businesses. The Salt Lake County Council supports this group’s proposal.
Here is why I don’t support that group’s proposal and why I do support a property tax increase:
Increasing sales taxes affects who the most? Poor people. Not business or property owners who can afford such increases. If sales tax is increased, people with the least consumer purchasing power will have even less which will also affect businesses, since less people will be able to afford to purchase from them. Property tax increases, on the other hand, can be afforded by those who have higher incomes, including businesses.
My priority would be to raise fuel taxes first, then property taxes. But raising fuel taxes doesn’t appear to be an issue being discussed, therefore I support the concept of raising property taxes.
See more info at my campaign website, Deanna Taylor for Salt Lake County Council
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 