Taxes

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

The Utah Constitution requires that the state balance its budget.1 That is as simple as aligning revenues with the annual budget expenses. Both the Governor and Utah State Legislature produce budgets. The Governor releases budget recommendations in November for the Legislature to consider. The Legislature produces the state’s final budget in late February or early March. But how do they know what Utah’s revenues will look like over the next year in order to ensure … Continued

The Revenue Report: Income and Sales Tax Surprise

Written by: Staff

Welcome to the first Revenue Report from the Utah Foundation. As state taxes and government spending have always been among Utah’s top ten concerns in Utah Foundation’s “Utah Priorities Project,” we thought it would be helpful to provide a monthly discussion on Utah’s state revenues.  In this month’s discussion we highlight the income and sales tax surprise – how  revenue collections are well above expectations. The Utah State Tax Commission periodically releases a revenue snapshot … Continued

Op-Ed: Has Utah found a better way to pay for roads?

Written by: Peter Reichard

About 8,000 years ago, somebody in what is now Iraq came up with the idea of taxing the public for services and infrastructure. In addition to funding armies, taxation in the ancient world went heavily toward building roads. Whether it was property taxes or some other exaction, few were particularly pleased. Tax collectors were despised in the ancient world. After these millennia, is it possible that Utah has figured out the best way for the … 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

Video: How Utahns Pay for Water

Written by: Christopher Collard

Utah Foundation’s first short video of 2020 is an overview of five reports from 2019 that make up the Paying for Water series. The series outlines the pros and cons of a greater reliance on water rates, and how this might affect certain areas of concern. Paying For Water Series This series contains an executive summary and four main parts: Executive Summary: Paying for Water: A Brief Summary of the Series Part 1 – Background: … Continued

The leaves are falling. What about taxes?

Written by: Peter Reichard

Autumn is not the season we usually associate with discussions of state tax policy. But with comprehensive tax reform failing to blossom last spring at the close of the general session, state legislators are working to bring reform to fruition before winter sets in. The push for reform comes at a time of prosperity for Utah – but also a time when structural challenges are becoming increasingly apparent. As Utah Foundation revealed in its 2018 … Continued

How should we pay for water? A matter of priorities

Written by: Peter Reichard

It can be said that the modern history of Utah began with water — and a bet. The year was 1824, and Jim Bridger was sitting around with his fellow mountain men in Cache Valley, on the banks of the Bear River, laying bets over where the water flowed. To settle the bet, Bridger followed the river down and found a giant, briny inland sea. Ever since, water has shaped the contours of Utah’s history … Continued

Utah Thrives: Teacher Pay

Written by: Dan Bammes

Why should a young person in Utah make the career decision to become a teacher? Why do potential teachers often choose another line of work? And how do Utah’s pay scales for teachers compare to other Mountain states and the nation? In this edition of Utah Thrives, we’ll talk about the new Utah Foundation report Apples to Apples: How Teacher Pay in Utah Stacks up to the Competition. We’ll hear from Utah Foundation President Peter … Continued