Business leaders announce ballot initiative to raise education revenue

December 09, 2016 (Herald-Journal)

The history of education funding in Utah shows a consistent decreased effort since the
1990s. The Utah Foundation reports that since 1994, Utah has dropped from 7th in the
nation to 37th in terms of education funding. During the past 20 years, K-12 revenue has
decreased by nearly $12 per $1,000 of income.

Back then, [Nolan] Karras said, the economy was robust and growing strong. The income tax was
growing with the economy. The Utah Foundation would agree, claiming there was a
feeling at the time that education had enough money and taxes were too high.
In one of several policy changes that decreased education revenue, Utah voters approved
Proposition 6 in 1996, allowing higher education to share income and property tax revenue
that was traditionally reserved for K-12 funding.

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