SALT LAKE CITY – On the eve of Utah’s tax-paying deadline for cities and counties, the Utah Taxpayers Association (UTA) has released its annual Cost of Governments report for Fiscal Year 2021.
UTA analysts explained that their report “systematically compares how well elected officials in Utah’s 50 cities and 29 counties control public spending and illustrates the relationship between government as a service provider and citizens as consumers.”
For example, the UTA report reveals that the average Utah city takes $23.66 of each $1,000 earned by its residents. In other words, the average Utah city collects $643.74 from the average city resident with an average annual income of $28,508, for a grand total of revenue from taxes and fees of $34,575,437.
The annual report uses two metrics to determine how great a financial burden the government places on taxpayers.
The first of those is revenue from taxes and fees per capita. That metric is useful in comparing different counties and cities.
In the 2020 report, the first metric ranges from the lightest tax burden of $392.20 for the town of Clinton and the worst at $1,549.03 for Salt Lake City.
The second metric is revenue from taxes and fees per each $1,000 of a citizen’s income, which highlights the individual burden facing residents.
For the second metric, Holliday scores the lowest tax with $10.24 compared to $54.80 for South Salt Lake.
If a city or county ranks high, UTA analysts say, it highlights over-spending by that government and the need for more frugal budgeting.
Interestingly enough, the tax burden for the average resident of Logan is about equal to the state average.
The UTA report lists the population of Logan at 51,542 (based on 2020 U.S. Census population estimates). The city takes $34.58 of each $1,000 earned by its residents. With a per capita income of $18,764, that means Logan collects nearly $33.5 million in tax revenue and fees.
Logan is therefore in the top five of 50 Utah cities in terms of the UTA report’s first metric, but only 19th in terms of the second.
At the county level, however, the results of the UTA research are outstanding.
While examining Cache County, the UTA report lists the population of the county at 133,154 residents. The county takes $17.25 of each $1,000 earned by its residents. With an average income of $23,713, that means Cache County collects nearly $54.4 million in tax revenue and fees.
Cache County, therefore, ranks in the top five of 29 counties in both of the report’s metrics.
In its closing, UTA analysts said the 2020 Cost of Government report highlights the relationship between city/county revenue and citizens’ income throughout Utah. This data provides a snapshot of the average amount of a citizen’s income that is consumed by government.