Government Spending

Utah Public School Finances: FY 1998-99

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

The single biggest expenditure of state and local tax revenue in Utah and the nation is for education (public and higher). Today about 42 percent of total direct state and local expenditures in Utah pay for education while the national average for the 50 states and the District of Columbia is 34 percent. About $92 out of every $1,000 of Utah total personal income are spent on education. This is about one-third higher than the … Continued

Fiscal Summary of the 2000 Legislative Session

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

The 2000 legislative session, though dominated by the education funding issue, still found time to allocate the tobacco settlement funds, appropriate $694 million for capital projects (mostly highways), change Human Right’s Day to the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, pass mental health insurance reform, delay payments due to the state from the Salt Lake Olympic Committee until after the Olympics in 2002, and pass a $6.7 billion budget.

Utah Public Education Financing and the State School Trust Fund

Written by: Stephen Hershey Kroes

Because of Utah’s high birthrate, the state has, in percentage terms, the largest school-age population (ages 5-17) of any state in the nation. The flip-side of the coin is also true, Utah has the smallest percent of adults of working age (ages 18-64) of any state in the nation. These demographic facts make it very difficult to fund education at levels typical in other states. As a result, Utah has the largest class sizes and … Continued