Utah severance tax amendment too close to call

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah voters are divided over whether some of the state's severance tax revenue from mining, oil and gas companies should be deposited into a rainy-day fund.

Unofficial results from all Utah precincts Tuesday showed that voters approved the constitutional amendment by a vote of 51 percent to 49 percent. But with provisional ballots still outstanding statewide, the question was too close to call.

The proposed amendment would require the Legislature to save a fixed amount of severance taxes in the Permanent Trust Fund. They could only spend from the fund's principal in an emergency and with approval of the governor and three-fourths of the state Senate and House.