OREM — In a disciplined month, when she doesn't make too many long-distance calls, Breanne Reinhart pays a $50 cellular phone bill.
She estimates that taxes account for $5 of that bill.
If that's the case, Reinhart is lucky, says Joe Hansen, director of external affairs for AT&T Wireless.
Hansen says 20 percent of the average cell-phone bill goes to taxes. Some consumers have to pay as many as eight different taxes, including a disability and a poison control tax.
Like many other cities in Utah, Orem is considering taxing cell-phone users $1 a month. The proposal is part of the city's proposed 2001-02 budget, which will be discussed by the City Council in May. The budget will take effect July 1.
Orem city officials estimate the tax would generate $250,000 annually. That money has been earmarked for the city's department of public safety. If the proposal passes, the city will hire two police officers and buy new self-contained breathing equipment for the fire department.
The equipment the department currently uses is about 15 years old, said Mike Larsen, Orem's director of public safety. The current equipment doesn't put firefighters in danger, but it is outdated, he said.
"It's a small tax that can go a long way to benefit the residents of Orem," said City Manager Jim Reams.
Springville and most cities in Salt Lake County, including Salt Lake City, have already imposed the tax.
Provo officials say they have no intention of adopting the tax at this time.
State Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, sponsored a bill in the most recent session that would have prohibited cities and towns from leveling the tax for one year. The bill has been sent to committee for further study.
"Government can always find ways to spend money, and they can always come up with compelling reasons why they need more money to spend," Bramble said.
Bramble thinks there is no reason for the tax other than generating revenue. Unlike land-line phones, which are taxed for using city streets and utility poles, cell phones don't need wires to function.
"Typically a tax is used to pay for a service or to reimburse the city for the cost of a service. Cell phones don't cost the city anything," said Hansen of AT&T Wireless.
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