Issue Position: Taxes

Issue Position

VISION: Too often, government forgets that tax dollars belong to taxpayers, not government bureaucracies. We place a sacred trust in government to use tax dollars to responsibly support a basic level of government services such as a police force, road construction and public schools. An excessive tax burden means less freedom, fewer economic opportunities, and generally more difficult lives for Utahns.

When taxes are too high it means:

Less money for families to support themselves, improve their lives, or save for the future
Fewer job opportunities and lower family incomes, due to uncertainty in the free market
Bigger government programs ineffectively attempting to replace the essential roles that families, churches, charities, and community organizations play in our lives
HARD WORK: I will work to limit the use of government funds to grow any institution whether it is for short term use or long term maintenance of any current or future programs. Community service is necessary for any community to maintain itself without raising taxes. We can't expect others to be accountable for the problems we create but we can pitch in to help each other instead of waiting for the government to help them.

CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT: It's easy to want someone else to take care of our problems. But responsibility and accountability are the only ways we can come together to solve the issues within our communities.

We already provide this HIGHEST VOLUNTEER community output in the nation annually. We significantly outstrip any other community. We step up. We act responsibly. We take care of our neighbors, provide boy scouts troops, and keep our parks clean.

While the chair of Kids on the Move, I worked with the community to vision and build a community outreach center for special needs children and their parents to provide the educational needs. We built a 3.6 million dollar facility without ANY tax dollars. That is the kind of community involvement I'm talking about. Together, we can make it happen.

REAL SOLUTIONS: As the "Best Managed State" in the United States and with a long history of maintaining a balanced budget, I will do all in my power to continue honoring such a high code of ethics.

Every year the state creates significant amounts of new legislation. New legislation can often result in added layers of government oversight to enforce it. I will scrutinize each piece of legislation for actual cost to the taxpayer.

I will continue in the spirit of volunteerism to seek out responsible solutions when using the money you hold the state government accountable to use. When there are any changes in the works, I will continue to seek your input on necessity and value.

In approaching taxation and taxes, you can expect me to incorporate my bedrock principles to ask: Does the new policy strengthen homes and families? Does it improve our economic vitality? How does it properly limit government?

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