Tax Burden -- How much goes to your city?

Taxes become a common discussion during the middle of April...but how many of us really know our complete annual tax bill (federal, state, and local)? The Utah Taxpayers each year provides an analysis of a typical Utah family each year--this year the average Utah family of five spends $15,877 in taxes or 25% of their income.

However, of this $15,877 in taxes how much goes to your city or town? Based on this analysis a family of five spend around $700 dollars a year (combined sales, property, and franchise) in municipal taxes.

• A median Utah household spends 1.2% of their income in municipal taxes
• Less than 5% of a Utahns entire tax burden is dedicated to municipal government.

$700 dollars a year for all the municipal services I use (sidewalks, city parks, water, garbage collection, sewer, city library, roads, etc)...sounds like a bargain to me. And I'm a libertarian who hates taxes as much as anyone.

By the way, the Utah Taxpayers have scheduled their 29th Annual Conference for May 4th. You can check out the packed agenda here.

What about expenses Tad?

According to a recent article in the Deseret News, written by Tad Walch (Utah County bureau chief) Utah's cities and towns are flush with cash. However, Tad does not once in his article mention the rising expenditures that are often linked to a growing economy and society. For example, with growth come increased infrastructure needs.

True, Utah's cities and towns are benefiting from a booming statewide economy (like the State govt) however, this strong economy is not occurring with static service needs. According to a recent Utah League of Cities and Towns survey responding cities indicated the following:

• 91% report an increase infrastructure need from FY05 to FY06
• 44% anticipate a significant increase of infrastructure spending needed FY07
• 86% report an increase cost of employee benefits for FY06
• 73% report increase service needs for new development for FY06

These statistics illustrate the challenges that many cities and towns are faced with. Can cities better address these challenges during good economic times? Definitely. But does that mean cities and towns are flush with cash? Definitely not.