SALT LAKE CITY – After years of pressure to eliminate Utah’s food sales tax, the time may soon be here – if voters give the green light to a change in the state’s budget.
There are still a few months until the November election, but the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute has released new information on the ballot question that will decide the distribution of income tax revenue and the elimination of the grocery tax.
Decoding the Income Tax Amendment: Proposed Amendments to the Utah Constitution by cprice on Scribd
“We don’t have a clear position on that,” said Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute. “We just want to make sure that when people vote, they have the information they need to make their decision.”
Background information on the plan
In 2023, the Utah State Legislature passed HB54, which eliminates the state portion of the sales tax on groceries.
However, this was subject to a condition. Voters also had to approve a constitutional amendment allowing income tax revenues to be used for purposes other than education and programs for children and the disabled.
This question will be put to a vote in November.
Groups such as the Utah Education Association oppose the change on the grounds that it would jeopardize secure funding for schools.
Andrea Brandley, senior education analyst at the Gardner Institute, said that since 1947, most of Utah’s income tax revenue has gone to public education.
“It changes what income tax revenue can be used for,” Brandley said. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that funding for public education changes.”
Brandley also said the constitutional amendment would create a framework for funding public education in Utah’s constitution “that has not existed before.”
This framework, she said, would ensure funding despite changes in student enrollment and inflation, while also creating a safety net.
Goodbye to food sales tax?
If voters approve the constitutional amendment in November, the state’s 1.75% sales tax on groceries will be eliminated.
Dean, an economist at the Gardner Institute, estimates that the average Utah family would save just over $100 a year while maintaining the local sales tax on groceries.
“The grocery tax is $5, $10 and $10 at a time, so I’m not sure how much people will notice,” Dean said.
However, he added: “There could be a significant impact, particularly for low-income people whose budgets are tighter.”
When it comes to paying taxes on food, Bountiful resident Ronald Mortensen is strictly against it.
“We all have to eat, no matter what our income is or anything else,” Mortensen said.
He has advocated for the elimination of the grocery tax over the years and plans to vote for the constitutional amendment in November – even though he does not like the entire proposal.
“I have some reservations about giving Parliament even more taxpayers’ money to spend,” said Mortensen, “because they have shown that they spend every money they get.”
But Mortensen is convinced that abolishing the tax will ultimately help those who need it most.
“I just think it’s wrong that they tax a necessity of life,” he said.
