The Utah Tax Commission's refusal to publicly divulge information about tax liens against politicians or other residents has been upheld by the state Records Committee.
The committee voted 4-3 Wednesday to deny an appeal of the tax agency's confidentiality decision by the Deseret News.
"The Tax Commission does have an obligation to protect the taxpayer information," said Max Evans, a records committee member and director of the state Division of History.
Evans said state law prohibits the tax agency from releasing tax liens and other information dealing with delinquent payment or nonpayment of individual income or corporate income taxes. Committee Chairwoman Betsy Ross, a government attorney, agreed.
"This statute does hamstring us," Ross said.
Joel Campbell, Deseret News associate editor in new media, argued that the Tax Commission's claimed cloak of confidentiality threatens the concept of open and accountable government.
"Taken to its conclusion, it could mean that everything to do with tax returns or anything the Tax Commission does is secret," said Campbell.
Other committee members argued that it is ridiculous for the state to argue tax liens are private records when they are public information in Utah courts.
"We all agree that's public information. They (tax commissioners) provide it to the courts," said committee member Jeffery Johnson, director of state archives.
Mark Fuellenbach, publisher of the Richfield Reaper and a member of the committee, also argued for release of the tax lien information on candidates for elected office. He said publication of such information is "in the public interest."