Friday, February 07, 2003

Census: 2002 Census of Governments Released The Scout Report has news of the new edition of the Census of Governments which provides data on state and local governments. "Released in December 2002, this 105-page document contains the official counts of the number of state and local governments, along with tabulations of governments by state, type of government, size, and county location." In 1942, Utah had 303 Federal, State, or Local government units.  Today there are 606, including 29 counties, 236 municipalities, 40 school districts, and 300 "special districts" (3 hospital districts (?), 18 health districts, 21 flood control / drainage districts, 40 conservation districts), 8 parks and recreation districts, 16 community development districts, 17 sewerage districts, 4 solid waste management districts, 34 water supply districts, 19 fire protection districts, 45 cemetaries, and a partridge in a pear tree [district]).comments or questions [] 3:40:15 PM

Taxation: State by State Comparisons As we enter into the bowels of taxtime, this might be a good opportunity to recommend a site that allow comparison of state tax rates.I comes from the Federation of State Tax Administrators. Besides income and sales tax rates there is also comparative data for excise (or sin) taxes. Utah ranks 17th in the tax rate for cigarettes, and has no excise tax on liquor (there's a catch, of course.) Also included are states that don't tax food or drugs, corporate tax rates, and many other comparative statistics.  (Data is from January of 2002).comments or questions [] 1:59:59 PM

University of Utah: Research News The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Institute on Druge Abuse (NIDA) has awarded the University nearly $11 million to attempt to identify genes that make people susceptible to nicotine addiction and cigarette smoking. [newsrx.com] - $$ [U of U PR] A new study by U researchers shows that drivers talking on cell phones, even the hands-free kind, are more accident prone and have slower reaction times ("inattention blindness"). [NSC News Item] comments or questions [] 9:27:53 AM