Constitutional amendment on November ballot could lead to removal of Utah food sales tax

SALT LAKE CITY— After years of pressure to remove the food sales tax in Utah, it could happen soon – if voters give the green light to change how the state can budget its money.

While the November election is still a few months away, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute is out with new information about the ballot question that will decide how income tax revenue is allocated and whether the food tax goes away.

“We don’t have a position one way or another on it,” Phil Dean, chief economist at the Gardner Institute, said. “We just want to make sure as people go to the ballot, they have the information they need so that they can decide.”

Background on the plan

In 2023, the Utah Legislature passed HB54, which removes the state portion of the sales tax on food.

But it came with a condition. Voters would also have to OK a constitutional amendment allowing income tax revenue to be used for other things besides education and programs for children and people with disabilities.

That question will be on the ballot in November.

Related: Alpine School District Board of Education votes to raise taxes in Utah County

Groups like the Utah Education Association oppose the change, saying it threatens protected funding for schools.

Andrea Brandley, senior education analyst at the Gardner Institute, said most of Utah’s income tax revenue has gone to public education since 1947.

“This is changing what income tax revenue can go toward,” Brandley said. “It’s not necessarily stipulating any sort of level changes in public education funding.”

Brandley also said the constitutional amendment would establish frameworks for public education funding in the Utah Constitution “which has not existed previously.”

That framework, she said, would provide for funding despite changes in student enrollment and inflation while also establishing a rainy day fund.

Decoding the Income Tax Ear… by cprice

 Read the full story at KSLTV.com