(KCPW News) While the Utah Legislature’s Water Issues Task Force recommended earmarking 15 percent of future sales tax growth to fund the controversial Lake Powell pipeline to St. George, Governor Gary Herbert says in principle, he’s concerned about any kind of earmark. Earlier this year, he vetoed a bill that would have created a similar earmark for transportation projects.
“I think the legislature needs to have flexibility to in fact address the budget based on the circumstances they find themselves in each and every legislative session,” he said Thursday.
Speaking at his monthly news conference on KUED, Herbert said the bigger problem would be having the entire state subsidize a water system that would only be used by a certain group of people.
“I don’t think that’s good policy. I think the users of services ought to be the ones that pay for it,” he explained.
Opponents of the project, both from the Washington County area and across the state, say the region should do a better job of conserving water instead. But water officials there say despite conservation efforts, the project is still badly needed.
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