Government Spending

Significant Statistics | Utah’s Taxes are Less Regressive than Most

Written by: Staff

On the three-legged stool of taxation – sales, income, and property taxes – Utah is less regressive than most other states. This is important because some Utahns believe that higher-income earners should pay a larger percentage of their income. In contrast, others believe that higher-income earners should pay less since they already contribute the lion’s share of the overall state and local tax receipts. Tax policy is perhaps one of the most widely and hotly … Continued

The Revenue Report: Utah’s Consensus Projections Approach

Written by: Christopher Collard

Utah estimates the state’s future tax revenues using a consensus approach. It is undertaken by the Utah’s Revenue Assumptions Working Group – a collection of economists and experts from the Governor’s and Legislature’s staff, the State Tax Commission, and state academic institutions and departments.1 This approach is not the way all states estimate revenue. In other states, such as New Jersey, the Governor’s staff creates one revenue estimate and the legislature’s staff creates a differing … Continued

The Revenue Report: Utah’s Projections Process

Written by: Christopher Collard

In our upcoming Revenue Report we will examine recent projections for Utah and how they compare to eventual outcomes.       [1] Utah Constitution, Article XIII, Section 5, Use and amount of taxes and expenditures. [2] Utah Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, Utah’s Budget Process, https://gopb.utah.gov/budget-operations/utahs-budget-process/ [3] Utah Governor’s Office, News Release: Legislature and Governor’s Office Release Updated Budget Estimates, February. 21, 2023, https://governor.utah.gov/2023/02/21/news-release-legislature-and-governors-office-release-updated-budget-estimates/. And Executive Appropriations Committee, Revenue Estimates – February 2023 … Continued

The Revenue Report: Income and Sales Tax Surprise

Written by: Staff

The State will be re-forecasting revenues after one more monthly collections report – due in the middle of February. Legislators will consider these numbers before making final budget decisions for the 2023 General Session. Interestingly, if the current growth rates were to hold throughout the remainder of the fiscal year (June 30th), the state would end the year with $1.9 billion more than forecasted. In this edition we highlighted how actual revenues can sometimes far … Continued

Significant Statistics | Utah Leads the U.S. in Personal Income Growth

Written by: Erin Hernandez

Four Mountain States ended the year atop the nation in personal income growth. Arizona and Montana experienced an increase of 7.1% in personal income, Utah ranked third in the country with a 6.9% increase, followed by Idaho with a 6.8% annual increase. One Mountain State – Wyoming – was at the very bottom of the nation, but still saw an increase (1.1%). Most of the personal income growth came from government transfers. However, Utah ranked … Continued

Significant Statistics | How are the economic crisis and long-term trends affecting government jobs in Utah?

Written by: Staff

THERE HAS BEEN A sharp decline in government jobs since the pandemic began affecting Utah’s economy in March. From March to May, nearly 20,000 government jobs disappeared – a 7% decline. This is roughly proportional to the decrease in jobs overall – 6%. This contrasts with the previous recession, when jobs overall decreased 6% from 2008 to 2010 while government jobs actually increased by 3% over the same time period.[1] * Image from Utah Foundation, … Continued

Op-Ed: Tax reform may be on pause, but the issues roll on

Written by: Peter Reichard

Writing on tax reform back in December, I quoted Thomas Jefferson: “Politics … holds up the torches of martyrdom to the reformers of error.” Well, apparently state political leaders saw the glow of firelight coming over the hillside, because the tax reform in question was quickly thereafter thrown out. This leaves the issues that motivated reform unresolved. To give Utahns a better idea of what that means, Utah Foundation recently released “Now What? A Citizen’s … Continued