Economy

Utah’s thriving economy complicates teacher pay challenge

Written by: Peter Reichard

It’s usually a simple equation. If you want high-performing schools, you need high-performing teachers. The question – particularly for a fast-growing state like Utah – is how to attract and retain them. In its new report, Apples to Apples? How Teacher Pay in Utah Stacks Up to the Competition, Utah Foundation reveals that average teacher pay in our state is well below the national average and at the bottom of the eight Mountain States. But … Continued

Rio Tinto to be Honored with Utah Foundation’s Civic Cornerstone Award

Written by: Dan Bammes

Rio Tinto to be Honored with Utah Foundation’s Civic Cornerstone Award Annual Luncheon Features Professor Robert Putnam as Keynote Speaker   Rio Tinto will be honored with the Civic Cornerstone Award at Utah Foundation’s 2019 Annual Luncheon on May 21st at the Little America Hotel. Utah Foundation’s supporters include companies and organizations that serve as true champions of the civic community. Through the Civic Cornerstone Award, Utah Foundation seeks to recognize these supporters’ remarkable contributions … Continued

Utah Thrives – The Future of Taxation in Utah

Written by: Dan Bammes

The 2019 legislative session ended without a significant restructuring of Utah’s sales tax system. There’s agreement on the general goals – broadening the base of goods and services subject to the sales tax – but the clock ran out on the session before the details could be negotiated. State Senator Luz Escamilla, a Democrat, and Representative Robert Spendlove, a Republican, presented their thoughts on where the process is going now when they spoke to the … Continued

Utah Thrives – Tax Modernization

Written by: Dan Bammes

What did Utah’s governor mean when he told the Legislature that tax modernization is his top priority for this session? What’s not modern about our tax system — specifically, sales taxes? In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll hear what the governor had to say on the subject as well as from Research Analyst Christopher Collard, the author of Utah Foundation’s award-winning studies on sales, property and income taxes in Utah. And we’ll hear from … Continued

Building quality of life into our future

Written by: Peter Reichard

When considering Utah’s assets, it’s easy to rattle off a series of indicators that play directly into economic performance: a favorable tax environment, a strong workforce, a diversified economy, a fleet of strong higher ed institutions and one of the most well-educated populations in the nation. But one of Utah’s most important assets is less tangible. It comes up in conversation perhaps more than any other asset, but you can’t find it in federal statistics. … Continued

Utah housing concerns center on Salt Lake County and renters

Written by: Peter Reichard

Housing affordability has become one of the biggest topics in recent public discourse. That makes sense: Housing prices in Utah have increased sharply during the past five years. The median sales price of a home rose from $207,000 in 2013 to $298,950 in 2018. Median rents in Utah have increased from $851 in 2012 to $986 in 2017. From a longer-term perspective, housing cost increases in both Utah and most other Western states have consistently … Continued

Utah Thrives: Farming in Utah’s Urban Counties

Written by: Dan Bammes

For several generations now, the most profitable crop grown on farmland in Utah’s urban counties has been new houses. Farmland has been disappearing and with it the lifestyle that was once a big part of Utah’s culture. But through the years, farming has survived and adapted, sometimes taking advantage of that urban growth. In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll hear about the agricultural protection status that farmers in Wasatch Front communities are able to … Continued

Taking on the sales tax offers opportunities, brings challenges

Written by: Peter Reichard

George Washington once observed that “No taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.” Like most states, Utah depends primarily on a three-legged stool of more or less unpleasant taxes: the property tax, the income tax and the sales tax. Property and income taxes seem to chafe the public most. Paying these taxes serves almost as a rite of passage into full participation in the economy and the burdens of … Continued

Health insurance costs force hard choices

Written by: Peter Reichard

When historians look back on this era, they will undoubtedly note the rapidly growing role of health care in our economy and in our lives. Health care spending now accounts for about one-fifth of America’s gross domestic product. In the background is a massive shift in expectations. Our ancestors lived with untimely deaths from accidents and diseases as a regular part of life. Today, cures of diseases are almost expected, and afflictions that were once … Continued

Cutting state income taxes not a silver bullet for economic growth

Written by: Peter Reichard

It’s the first half of April. Income taxes are in the air. It’s the time when the procrastinators – about one-fourth of us, per the IRS – finally get around to filing income taxes. We’re also on the heels of a session in which the State Legislature trimmed Utah’s income tax rate from 5% to 4.95%, dropping our ranking nationally when it comes to state income taxes. Meanwhile, Utah Foundation’s new report, The Education Tax: … Continued