budget.utah.gov
A PILM amount of 50 million is a drop in the large bucket.
The Federal government (you and I) own 70% of the State of Utah. We (the Federal tax payer) pay the State of Utah 50 million dollars a year in the government’s version of a Property Tax…… from all citizens in the country. As property owners in Utah we pay Utah 4.7 billion in property taxes……….. and we own only 30% of the property. The Feds (you and I) own more than twice as much as Utah’s private land owners. Yet, the Utah property owners are paying 99% and we get 1% from the Federal government.
50 million divided by 4.7 billion = 49 million which is 1.06% of the total property taxes paid to the State of Utah. 59% of that 4.7 million goes to the States public schools to educate our children.
That’s the rub gentlemen. As a Federal property owner, like the rest of you, I’d rather pay higher Federal taxes and have the government pay the western States that extra tax revenue to those western States. I would rather we do that than have those lands sold to individuals, who will then pay the property tax on them.
One way or the other, something has going to give because these western States populations are exploding and the moneys going to come from one place or the other.
I have met with numerous Utah State Congressmen and Senators over the last 25 years about pushing for a higher PILM ……….. by pushing for higher Federal taxes, rather than sell Utah’s public lands to the private sector……….. not one of them has made the slightest effort.
At age 77, it’s someone else’s turn to try or, kiss goodbye to your public access future.
