This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A legislative task force wants to siphon 15 percent of revenue growth from state sales tax to finance the $1.5 billion Lake Powell Pipeline. That just won't wash.
The Legislature already has earmarked 30 percent of sales tax revenue growth for roads. If it tacks on another 15 percent for water projects, that would leave only about half of sales-tax income growth to fund increases for all other programs in the state's budget outside of public education. That's unreasonable. Remember, sales tax is the largest revenue source for the state general fund, meaning that it pays for pretty much everything outside of public schools.
What about Medicaid? What about Workforce Services? There are still a lot of unemployed folks out there. What about higher education? The state's colleges and universities are bursting with new students and little new funding. What about capital debt?
The Legislature's water task force voted the other day to recommend the 15 percent earmark. It says that could raise an estimated $60 million a year in 2015 to finance 15-year state bonds to pay for the Lake Powell Pipeline. The people who use the newly supplied water would pay the state back, mostly through impact fees, meaning that people buying new homes would foot the bill.
The 139-mile pipeline would carry 82,000 acre-feet of water from the lake on the Colorado River to Washington County (St. George) and Iron County (Cedar City).
After the Lake Powell Pipeline were paid off, the state's revolving water loan fund then would be available to finance other projects, such as a dam on the Bear River.
Water managers in Washington and Iron counties say they need the Lake Powell water to provide for population growth. However, the state as a whole cannot afford to finance that project when it will face massive demands on the state budget from growth in Utah's population center, i.e., the Wasatch Front. It would not be equitable for 3 million Utahns to finance a huge pipeline project so a population roughly the size of Salt Lake City can continue unlimited growth.
Besides, the people of Salt Lake, Utah and seven other counties already are paying property taxes to complete the Central Utah Project.
The task force also is studying the idea of creating a statewide water district that could tax all Utahns to finance the Lake Powell Pipeline. Instead, it should create a district for only the area served by the pipeline. Let the people who would benefit finance it.