But at the Legislature, the "conservative" party is leading the taxing and spending.

A Salt Lake Tribune analysis of four years of fiscal notes attached to legislation shows Republican lawmakers are the first to raise taxes and spend revenue. To be fair, conservative legislators also lead in cutting taxes.

Legislators excuse the apparent disconnect from traditional Republican principles as a consequence of their leadership and dominant numbers in the Legislature, where they outnumber Democrats by a ratio of nearly 3-to-1. They say there is a difference between good taxes and bad taxes.

"Sometimes you have to raise taxes," said Logan Republican Sen. Lyle Hillyard, who ranks 10th overall for raising taxes and fees over the past four years. "There are circumstances that warrant it. That's why I will never say I won't vote for a tax increase."

Democratic lawmakers, however, say the results are ironic.

"It's amazing how that worm has turned in such a conservative state," said Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City. "The Democrats are trying to cut taxes and make them more fair, and the Republicans are raising them."

Adding up fiscal notes from legislation passed between 2001 and 2004 - excluding large budget bills, education funding and transportation bonds - The Tribune found that conservative lawmakers are responsible for the biggest tax increases and most spending hikes in state government. But they also get credit for cutting taxes the most.

Ron Hrebenar, chairman of the University of Utah's political science department, says it makes sense that Republicans would top all the lists because they fill most of the seats in the Capitol. But Hrebenar says those Republican lawmakers are more socially conservative than fiscally conservative, which also might explain their tax and spending practices.

"Republicans have run the state for years. And by and large, the budgets keep getting bigger - as they should. Population gets bigger. Demand for services gets bigger," he said. But in the end, "they balance the budget, so I think they can call themselves fiscal conservatives."

Still, all it takes is one big bill to give a lawmaker dubious top honors in the tax-raising column.

That's the case with former Delta Republican Rep. Mike Styler. Styler was new to House leadership in 2003 when he was stuck with a bill raising taxes on cable TV subscribers. Lawmakers were struggling to balance the budget with declining revenues. Styler took his orders and substituted legislation that would generate $14 million in tax revenue for Mayne's original bill to eliminate corporate sales tax exemptions. The bill still is listed as Mayne's legislation, even though the Democrat criticized it and voted against it.

"We shanghaied him," Senate President John Valentine acknowledged.

Styler, now Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s natural resources director, defends the tax as a "reasonable" charge on a luxury. Still, he likes to think his 12-year tenure in the Legislature is characterized by a different kind of legislation.

"I had some good tax cuts in my career," he said. "I think I cut more than I raised."

Most of Sen. Mike Waddoups' tax total stems from his attempt to quiet the uproar sparked by the cable tax. Waddoups' legislation last year was meant to treat cable and satellite TV providers equally, setting a 6.25 percent excise tax on satellite providers and generating $4.4 million for state coffers.

"It made things more fair between the two industries," Waddoups said.

Some of those on the tax-raiser list sponsored popular taxes on hazardous waste, cigarettes and alcohol.

Former Rep. Carl Saunders raised taxes on cigarettes and tobacco in 2002, generating $13.8 million. Waddoups, a Republican from Taylorsville, raised about $900,000 taxing beer. Valentine's alcohol tax generated $3.3 million in state revenue. Kamas Republican Rep. David Ure gets credit for $2.7 million in increased hazardous waste taxes. And much of House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander's tax tab is $2.4 million in charges on radioactive waste. Alexander also sponsored legislation to charge nonresidents higher college tuition - increasing state revenues by $5 million.

"We needed to change things because out-of-state residents were getting residency too quickly and Utahns were paying a higher tuition rate to make up the difference," Alexander said.

Some lawmakers' bills funnel money to equally popular education and health projects. Saunders' decision to set aside cigarette tax revenue for health department use puts the Ogden Republican at the top of the spending list.

Former Sen. Leonard Blackham, now the Huntsman administration's agriculture commissioner, spent $5 million to establish a grant fund for electronic school testing assistance. And most of Hillyard's spending total, $3.4 million, was for former Gov. Mike Leavitt's initiative to generate more engineers from Utah colleges.

"I have no problem with [spending] that," Hillyard said. "What it's resulted in is, we have triple the number of graduates."

No matter how fair the tax or deserving the program funded, legislators dread explaining a label as a tax-and-spender.

"The public doesn't care. If you raise taxes, you're bad," Ure said.

But even Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, concedes that taxes are necessary to fund government.

"Government provides essential services we all rely on - education, transportation," he said. "The big question is what services should government provide and how much money should government get to provide those services."

The business-backed association generally advocates for smaller government.

Although the association is nonpartisan, Jerman says Republican lawmakers are more likely to argue for tax cuts than are Democrats. The association produces an annual report card for lawmakers, based on all legislation, bills that pass and those that don't. That report card pans some Democrats for bills that would increase taxes - such as Holladay Rep. Pat Jones' bill to limit child tax exemptions, a bill she co-sponsors with West Jordan Republican Steve Mascaro; or Mayne's legislation to end corporate sales tax exemptions, which has had a hefty fiscal note in past years.

Those on The Tribune's tax-cutting list were gleeful to learn of their ranking. Valentine wanted a "high-five" for his spot at the top of the list - a result of his legislation spreading the state's income tax brackets and cutting taxes by $18 million. Draper Republican Sen. Howard Stephenson wished tax cuts he proposed before 2001 could have been counted. His $13 million tax cut was the result of a bill changing unemployment insurance premiums.

Cottonwood Heights Republican Sen. Carlene Walker ranked eighth on the list of tax cutters, for her bill to grant a tax credit to parents who adopt children with special needs. "I would like to see us get away from tax increases," she said.

Former Rep. Eli Anderson was one of two Democrats to make the top tax cutters list, ranking fourth for his sponsorship of a bill to reduce the levy on hazardous waste incinerators. "The bill really benefited the industry and the residents by taking away an unfair tax," Anderson said.

---

Tribune interns Steve Gehrke and Melinda Hill contributed to this story. Editor Tony Semerad provided data analysis.