Income tax brackets are essentially unchanged for more than 30 years. Inflation has now pushed more than 80 percent of Utah taxpayers into the top tax bracket.

The sales tax system ignores our growing use of services, instead reflecting consumerism of a past industrial age rather than today's service economy, and it places Utah's merchants at a competitive disadvantage by taxing their sales while allowing Internet purchases tax free.

Finally, today's system allows tax policy decisions worth millions of dollars to be made with little review and analysis.

As a member of the Legislature's Tax Reform Task Force, I have the opportunity to recommend changes. We have studied recent tax reform proposals and listened to interest groups and some members of the public.

Thanks to a number of previous efforts, including the 1990 Utah Legislature tax policy guidelines, the 1999 Tax Commission's study on tax burden, as well as the 2004 Walker Report, the task force and the concerned public have excellent reference points to judge any proposed changes.

In October the task force will hold hearings across the state to receive public comment. You need not be a tax expert to participate. Rather you need only ask lawmakers how proposed changes measure up in terms of real reform. These are the benchmarks I will be looking for in evaluating tax reform proposals:

Utah's income tax system needs to be moderately progressive to offset the regressive tax nature of sales taxes and, to a lesser degree, property taxes. Such an income tax system should shield subsistence income and be indexed to avoid the hidden inflationary increases.

Utah needs to eliminate the policy of allowing taxpayers to partially offset their federal tax liability by reducing the amount of state income taxes owed. Few states still allow this deductibility of federal income taxes.

Such a policy makes no sense when the federal government is moving more costs to the states and reducing federal income taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers.

Utah should participate in the streamlined sales tax project in order to develop a taxing system that ensures that Utah businesses will be competitive and to capture Internet sales tax revenue.

Utah's cities, town and counties must support a more equitable distribution of sales tax revenue. Otherwise local governments will continue to cannibalize each other, basing planning decisions on increasing sales tax revenue rather than sound land use and transportation patterns.

Utah's sales tax system should include services in the taxing base in order to better reflect the growth in the economy, prevent further erosion, and to enable the state to reduce the tax rate without reducing revenues.

Utah's sales tax on groceries should be eliminated, or at the very least the impact of this tax should be mitigated by a refundable tax credit for low-income households.

Property taxes, our most stable source of revenue, should be allowed to expand with the growth in the community.

Utah's low business taxes should not be further reduced until the current inequities in the personal tax burden are addressed. The equity, breadth and stability of the tax base will be undermined by additional business tax breaks at this time.

Utah needs to develop a system that periodically and systematically examines tax policy decisions. Such a system needs to include the development of a "tax expenditure budget" so that tax policy decisions reflect the same degree of review and analysis as spending decisions.

As our population lives longer, many are learning to change their diet, to exercise more and to go to the doctor for regular check-ups. If Utahns demand the same of its tax system, we'll have a healthier state economy.

As a task force member I am committed to giving the state's tax system more than a just a facelift. We need instead a balanced tax diet, regular exercise in reviewing tax policy and tax portions that support the education of Utah's children. As a citizen, your comments and participation to this end are critical.

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Rep. Roz McGee, D-Salt Lake City, represents House District 28, and is former executive director of Voices for Utah Children, an organization speaking out for Utah's children and families.