UTA General Manager John Inglish on Wednesday told the agency board of directors that a sales tax proposal to fund transit and transportation projects probably would put the TRAX lines well down the list of priorities, behind commuter rail to Utah County, roads and purchasing land for future highways.

Further damaging the TRAX prospects are sales-tax bond limitations. Such a borrowing plan would raise less money upfront for light-rail extension and require higher interest payments than an $890 million property-tax bond proposal that Salt Lake County has placed on the Nov. 7 ballot.

Passage of the property tax bond would allow UTA to complete light-rail lines connecting western Salt Lake Valley with the north-south line by 2014.

"The quality of life in this region requires moving ahead aggressively'' with TRAX construction, Inglish said. But he added that "elements in the Legislature" see the sales-tax proposal likely to be taken up at a special session next week as a way to build roads, not TRAX.

That's right, Senate Transportation Chairman Sheldon Killpack told The Salt Lake Tribune. "This [proposal] is much greater than just Salt Lake County," he said. "This is much greater than transit. This is looking at transportation [across] the state."

Added the Syracuse Republican: "Salt Lake County is not an island. . . . Hopefully, we're trying to mitigate and avoid congestion. If a pet project, hypothetically speaking, that somebody just really wants gets bumped down because something [else] surfaces, shouldn't we be willing to take a look at that?"

Inglish said the sales-tax increase would raise more money over the long term than the property tax, but would be up for grabs for any number of transportation projects, leaving less for TRAX. Having $890 million earmarked from a property tax bond means construction on the TRAX lines could start next year and be finished by 2014.

The Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, which came up with the sales-tax plan, estimates Utah's four largest counties could raise $2.1 billion in new sales taxes for transportation over 10 years.

But UTA says the sales-tax proposal could divide the pool of money in unknown ways. If commuter rail and the Mountain View Corridor jump to the head of the line, completion dates for all the projects would be pushed back.

Though the Legislature's move could thwart UTA's plans for quickly easing Salt Lake County's traffic congestion, Killpack said looking at transportation needs in a larger context is necessary.

"Progress is often incremental," he said. "And this is not a step in the wrong direction."

Commuter rail, called FrontRunner, is scheduled to begin service between Ogden and Salt Lake City by 2008.

Service into Utah County could commence by 2014, said UTA spokesman Justin Jones.

It was unclear how divvying up the sales tax would affect those schedules.

Another tax measure already headed for the special session agenda: a two-track personal income tax that appears to have enough support among Republican lawmakers to pass.

But, at a news conference Wednesday, some Democrats attacked the plan as a "travesty of tax reform." Democratic critics say it is little more than an opportunity for Utah's GOP legislators to buy votes in November election with a $76 million tax cut, instead of tackling Utah's critical needs in education and transportation.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and his supporters argue the dual income tax is a first step toward comprehensive tax reform. It would allow taxpayers to choose to pay under the current system, with expanded brackets, or opt for a flat tax with a lowered rate of about 5.4 percent.

Democrats say it is a charade.

"It is not only the beginning of tax reform - but it will probably be the end," said Sen. Ed Mayne of West Valley City.

The income-tax cut yields an estimated break of just $48 a year to 95 percent of Utahns. But the wealthiest 4 percent to 5 percent will walk away with nearly half the tax cut - about $30 million. "The people of Utah are not stupid," Mayne said. "They see through this."

Huntsman announced Wednesday that the latest tax-collection figures show Utah's budget surpluses just keep rolling, with $380 million in additional money from the fiscal year that ended June 30.

House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, acknowledged that many Democratic lawmakers would support the dual-tax plan because it at least includes expanded brackets and inflation adjustment.

Rep. Pat Jones said Democrats have been pushing for rebracketing and indexing for several years. But Rep. Roz McGee, who served on the Tax Reform Task Force last summer, said the opportunity for meaningful change is being squandered.

Nearly all Democrats will support the sales tax for transportation measure because mass transit is a crucial need, Becker said.