Are you among the 62%? Do you think Utah is going in the wrong direction? Look no further than your than your empty pockets for proof.
In a resort town like Park City, I see a lot of my fellow senior citizens grocery shopping in Walmart, then heading down the mountain to Costco and Trader Joe’s. You can coast down on fumes, but you better weigh the savings against the cost of gas coming back up, currently $3.477 a gallon.
And you have a governor who has raised spending from $21.7 billion to $29.4 billion in just his first term. Utah now has the 11th highest tax burden in the country: https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494
And many in Park City have seen their property taxes more than double in the last four years. Now, no one’s housing is affordable, Gov. Cox!
Candidate, Utah representative and CPA Phil Lyman says this is not right and we are being taxed on unrealized gains.
Under Cox, Utah is a “secret” sanctuary state. (An ICE leader says we are; Cox says we aren’t!) According to a House bill in this past legislative session, there are an estimated 137,000 illegal immigrants in Utah costing us $931 million per year. Many have been flown in or arrived on white buses. They are granted driving privileges, including insurance, which I fear will make it easier for them to vote illegally.
They all come with a monthly housing allowance and a cell phone, paid for by taxes from your federal government. And then Utah provides their children medical cards and in-state tuition, and their parents with occupational licensing. Next, I’m sure Summit County will have to pony up for future day care, schools, law enforcement, fire, and medical care.
Now Gov. Cox has declared a Housing Crisis — giving each county one year to address it. Park City knows what it is supposed to do: Jam 600 homes right below the Olympic Park and subsidize the affordable units with taxpayer money so that Dakota Pacific can still make a profit.
Have you driven past the new barracks called Coyote Ridge in Heber yet? It popped up practically overnight — a village unto itself. Heber City taxpayers will be paying the cost of additional services required.
Do you know you have a governor who wants to appoint the attorney general, treasurer, auditor and state school board positions? He’d never be deposed.
He also tried to push $900 million of funding for billionaires’ sports complexes. And changed our historic flag — both without letting taxpayers even vote.
Did you know he took $260,000 of taxpayer money to upgrade security at his private home in San Pete County?
And that in 2021, the Cox administration removed the mask mandate for adults but kept our children masked — only letting them breathe freely the last week of school?
Did you know he vetoed a Title IX bill designed to keep biological men and boys out of women’s sports? I was there when the Legislature met in an emergency session to override the veto.
Shouldn’t Utahns decide what’s good for Utah? And what we can afford?
Gov. Cox, we can no longer afford you!
It’s definitely time for Phil Lyman for governor. And for better roads ahead: Lyman for Utah.
Karen Ballash
Park City