A new report by the Utah Foundation has fond that changes to Utah’s tax policy have cost public schools $1.2 billion annually.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/2fyvT3y ) that according to the report, released Monday, the amount of school-supporting taxes Utah residents paid for each $1,000 of personal income fell from $39 to $28 between 1995 and 2014.
Utah Foundation researchers looked at changes to Utah’s tax code like the Truth in Taxation process and a 1996 constitutional amendment that allowed income tax revenue to be diverted from K-12 schools to support higher education and how those effected school funding.
Utah Foundation Research Director Shawn Teigen says despite lawmakers adding hundreds of millions of dollars to the education budget in recent years, inflation and enrollment growth have effectively absorbed those dollars, leaving little for school investment.
