The backbone of summer is broken, as my grandmother used to say, which means the snowbirds of northern Utah are beginning to think about making their annual flight south.
The good news for these fortunate folk who can follow the sun is that the cost of living in St. George earlier this year was lower than at any time since 1990 when compared to other U.S. cities.
First-quarter data gathered recently by Alan Hamlin, a Southern Utah University business professor, show overall living costs in Utah's Dixie fell nearly 10 percent from a year ago to 92.6, with 100 percent being the national average.
By comparison, overall consumer costs in Salt Lake City were 6.4 points higher than St. George, with an index of 99.0, and Provo/Orem was just under 2 points higher at 94.5.
When comparing St. George with other winter havens, the gap was even wider. For example, Las Vegas' composite index was 108.9, and Los Angeles' 143.4.
"A family who moved from southern Utah to the Los Angeles area would have to make about 54 percent more income to keep the same standard of living as they had here," said Hamlin.
He cited lower housing appreciation in St. George, combined with higher utility bills and gasoline costs nationally, for widening the first-quarter gap in consumer prices between the city and the nation.
Housing costs in St. George were at a "very attractive" index of 82.7, according to Hamlin's survey, which included single-family homes, condominiums and rental housing.
Health-care costs also remained attractive, with an index of 89.8, but grocery prices were high at 112.1 percent of the national average.
For the U.S. comparisons, Hamlin used data published by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Assoc., better known by its acronym, ACCRA.
The bad news for Utah snowbirds is that the St. George cost of living may be back to "normal" by the time the snow flies in the north this winter. Consumer prices in the area rose 4.75 percent between April and July, reflecting higher costs of electricity, natural gas and labor, but those costs won't be reflected in ACCRA U.S. data for several months, so the comparisons with St. George and other U.S. cities might remain as attractive in the fourth quarter as they were in the first.
That's because historical data show St. George living costs running below the national average for more than a decade, a trend Hamlin expects to continue.
Turning to the mail bag, several readers were unimpressed with my article in last Thursday's paper in which I reported on the Utah Foundation's study purporting to show that residential real estate property taxes are well below the national average — 11th lowest, to be precise.
"Nowhere in your article did you mention the extremely unfair Utah practice of assessing a 'second home' tax," wrote one Utah couple. "We own a family cabin in Brian Head (and) received our tax notice — some $3,000. Brian Head tax(es) went up 39 percent, (and) we cannot even vote on this tax situation. We (are) sure there are thousands across the state like (us). Or is not this tax evenly enforced throughout the state?" (No, it's not.)
Another reader said it is pointless to compare property taxes with other states.
"Some states have no property taxes on homes, some have no taxes on food. The total cost of living is the bottom line. Where the real tax burden hurts us is because we have too much government. We see the legislators just got a raise. . . . We still see no consolidation of government services, such as firefighters, police and such. We have an energy crisis and a water crisis and the government (does nothing) while we are asked to pray."
E-MAIL: max@desnews.com