Is it a Breath of Fresh Air? Costs and Benefits of a Transportation Tax Credit Brian Wikle Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst.

Is it a Breath of Fresh Air?Costs and Benefits of a Transportation Tax

Credit

Brian WikleOffice of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst

Resolution:• The Utah State government should provide a tax

credit or incentive to Utah businesses that provide their employees with a public transit pass.

Resolution:• The Utah State government should provide a tax

credit or incentive to Utah businesses that provide their employees with a public transit pass.

Utah State reduces taxes for a business

A business buys a transit pass for employees

How do People Get to Work?

How do People Get to Work?

• Costs for each option• Benefits for each option

Costs• Gasoline• Car repairs• Time to drive• Risk of accident• Air pollution• Road congestion

Benefits• Door to door• Flexible schedule• Flexible route• Privacy

Costs• Ticket cost• Time to ride• UTA schedule• Not door to door

Benefits• Less road congestion• Cleaner air ???

Costs• Less convenient• More time

Benefits• Free transportation

Costs and Benefits of the Resolution

Costs• Buying transit passes

Benefits• Lower tax payments

Costs and Benefits of the Resolution

Costs• Lower tax revenue

Benefits• Less road congestion• Cleaner air ???

Costs and Benefits of the Resolution

Congestion• Some commuters use transit even though

they own a car; they may reduce the number of vehicles on roads by 21,000 round trips each day. (Office of the Utah Legislative Auditor General)

• What percent of employees provided a transit pass will use it rather than their own car?

Cleaner air ???