A coalition of student leaders from colleges and universities statewide gathered at the Capitol yesterday to announce and celebrate what they called a victory for all Utah students: tax-free textbooks.
“This started as a small idea but turned into a huge initiative,” said Marko Mijic, government relations director for the Associated Students of the University of Utah. “I’m really excited to hit the bookstore on April 1 and see ‘zero’ on the taxes.”
ASUU leaders worked with student body presidents from every institution of higher education in the state to lobby for tax-free textbooks. Student Body President Spencer Pearson said the first day the U announced the initiative, 1,000 students signed a petition in favor of the change. At other universities, it was the same story.
“Once the students heard about it…we had petitions up to our ears,” said Jennifer Shakespeare, student body president of Dixie State College. “Students were asking what else they could do — this is evidence students really care about this.”
Kelly Stowell, director of the Utah Student Association of student body presidents, said 10,000 students statewide signed the petition.
“When I went to the event at Snow College, there was a line 50 yards long (of students) waiting to sign the petition,” Stowell said. “We experienced similar support at all colleges.”
Although ASUU originally planned to introduce a bill to the Utah State Legislature that would exempt college textbooks from sales tax, student leaders discovered they didn’t need legislation — they could qualify for the exemption under existing tax codes.
According to state tax law, the U is considered both a state institution and a charitable organization. Although textbooks are tax-exempt in grades K-12, state institutions of higher education do not have this exemption. Because the U is seen as a charitable organization and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service, the U can receive tax exemptions for items that are a part of its mission statement and regular functions.
“We feel that textbooks are one of the main educational tools of students and therefore part of the main mission of the institution,” said Alex Zuhl, ASUU director of student services.
With the exemption, each student will be able to save, on average, about $60 on textbooks every semester, according to ASUU research on the issue. This adds up to a total of $4.7 million in savings for all Utah students annually.
Halee Thomsen, student body president of Salt Lake Community College, said student senators at SLCC were at every school event promoting the tax break. “Salt Lake Community College has a lot of non-traditional students, so any lightening of burden can definitely go a long way,” she said.
Each student leader expressed gratitude for being a part of the legislative process and working together in a cause that they said would benefit all Utah students.
Chris Skinner, student body president of Westminster College, said because his school is a private institution, students saw the initiative from a different viewpoint.
“The Legislature does things that are mostly for public schools, but this would affect us just as every other institution,” Skinner said.
All universities in the state — public and private — will be able to become eligible for the tax exemption. The U will implement it on April 1. Other schools will follow as soon as they are recognized by the IRS as having the necessary tax exemption, which will most likely happen during the summer.
While 17 other states already have tax-free textbooks, Mijic said Utah is the first state to do it without legislation.
But the tax exemption is only the first step, Mijic said as he urged the student leaders to continue efforts to bring down the cost of higher education and textbooks through things like textbook buy-backs and e-books.
Although textbook prices will still go up normally with inflation and rising costs, Mijic said U bookstore representatives assured him this would not happen because of the tax cut.
The $4.7 million saved from the exemption would not hurt funding for higher education but would actually stimulate the economy in the long run by helping more students afford school and by producing a more educated workforce, he said.
“I feel positive that this is a right step in the right direction,” Mijic said.
Maegan BurrMarko Mijic, Director of Government Relations for ASUU, watches the press conference Wednesday announcing that sales tax will be taken off of textbooks beginning in April statewide.