SALT LAKE CITY — State lawmakers have found a new way to kick more money toward homelessness services by dipping into liquor sales.
A provision inserted into the omnibus alcohol bill on Wednesday night allows state liquor store customers to "round up" their sales tax to the nearest dollar, earmarking it for the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund. The bill's Senate co-sponsor, Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, told FOX 13 News it gives the governor something he had sought.
"We’ve created a process where if you buy alcohol, you can round up the sales tax. So if it’s $25.25 you can round the tax piece of that up to the nearest dollar. So it accumulates and I think people are quite giving," he said.
Governor Spencer Cox requested hundreds of millions of dollars from the legislature for affordable housing and homelessness. He got just under $40 million for both. Since then, negotiations have been under way with lawmakers, the governor's office and stakeholders to find money. On Thursday, when the legislature's powerful Executive Appropriations Committee met, they found $25 million that appears to be for a new "low-barrier" shelter.
