Here’s another part of the story: According to the Utah Office of Fiscal Analyst, nearly one-third of Utah’s households pay zero state income tax because their incomes fall below the threshold or because they receive enough deductions and exemptions to put them below the threshold. That is important because in Utah, all income tax monies are devoted to public education. Every exemption and deduction represents education funding that might have been. Additionally, nearly half of Utah households pay no federal income taxes. Good arguments can be made about the validity of such tax breaks, but there is no doubt that the tax burden is shifted to the rest of Utah taxpayers.
It is also important to know that Utahns pay considerably less for public education as a portion of their income than they used to. According to the Utah Foundation, “Utah’s tax burden has reached its lowest level in the past 20 years, decreasing steadily since the 2007 tax cuts, largely through cuts in income tax and sales tax.” Recent decreases in income tax rates from 7 percent to 5 percent again were heralded by lawmakers, but relatively unknown by the very citizens they represent. A Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted soon after the 2007 tax cuts revealed that only 7 percent of the public was even aware that their income tax rates had been decreased. When income tax rates are cut, public education funding is cut.
