Archive

To understand how our favorite sports team is doing, we look for a scoreboard that provides a snapshot of our team’s performance. Displaying key performance indicators (KPIs) such as the score, time remaining, turnovers committed, and penalties gives us important information. Empowered by this data, we can decide how much emotional capital to invest in […]

During the legislative interim period, appropriations subcommittees engage in thorough analyses of budgetary matters that cannot be fully addressed during the General Session. These in-depth reviews are conducted as part of the Accountable Budget Process, a statutory mandate established by H.J.R. 18, “Joint Rules Resolution on Base Budgeting Provisions” (2019 General Session). Under this process, […]

The Utah Division of Services for People with Disabilities (DSPD) provides a variety of supports to help people with disabilities live more independently and participate fully in their communities. These supports are designed to meet the unique needs of each individual. Some people require around-the-clock care, while others may only need a few hours of […]

Public Infrastructure Districts (PIDs) are limited purpose local government entities which can be created by cities, counties or other political subdivisions to facilitate the development of infrastructure for public benefit as outlined in UAC Title 17D, Chapter 4. Initially authorized by S.B. 228, “Public Infrastructure District Act” in the 2019 General Session, these districts can […]

The recently federally enacted “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1) is set to create fiscal impacts for the state of Utah and could lead to future financial responsibilities related to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This new legislation changes the funding structure for both the administrative costs and the benefits provided through the […]

As students and faculty return to campuses across Utah, a quiet revolution is underway in how the state funds and builds its higher education facilities. Since 2019, Utah has shifted from a reactive, year-to-year funding model to a strategic, forward-thinking approach that provides a stable financial foundation for capital projects. This change, initiated by Senate […]

While our Grandma’s legendary two-year supply of emergency rations might be more rice and beans than legislative genius, this Pioneer Day we’re digging into a different kind of foresight: the Legislature’s plan to steady the public education budget during difficult economic times. Developed in 2020, this plan (titled the Public Education Funding Framework) includes three […]

In Utah—and the rest of the western United States—footing the bill for wildfire prevention, suppression, and mitigation is a persistently hot topic. The challenge of addressing wildfire on state, private, and federal lands, layered with the complexities of increasingly arid conditions, multiplied by population growth, and seasoned with competing budgetary priorities results in a natural […]

In the world of higher education budgets, funding takes one of three forms: Historically, the Legislature has only tracked the first two buckets, and even those were appropriated primarily in lump sums to institutions with little to no programmatic guidance. To provide greater insight into the budgets of Utah’s colleges and universities, the Higher Education […]

Recently, the Legislature has been active in the expansion or creation of designated areas which utilize funding mechanisms such as taxing authority, redirected revenue, and bonding capacity to achieve public purposes for a broad audience of Utah taxpayers. In exchange for these financial benefits, the local districts are tasked with furthering goals such as urban […]

The 2025 General Session continued the Legislature’s work in thoughtfully utilizing the Opioid Settlement payments to help Utah’s citizens impacted by the opioid epidemic, including the growth of fentanyl use. As a reminder, in 2021, nationwide settlements were reached to resolve all opioid litigation brought by states and political subdivisions against the three largest pharmaceutical […]

The Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s (LFA) annual budget report for the State of Utah dates all the way back to the 1960s. That means that for the last 60 years we’ve provided a breakdown of the state’s budgetary acts to help you find the answers to what you’re looking for. Do you want to know how […]

As discussions surrounding tariffs circulate through the news, it is important to understand what they are and how they work. Tariffs are taxes that are imposed by governments on goods and services imported from other countries. The primary intent of tariffs is to raise the price of imported goods relative to domestically produced goods, so […]

According to the Federal Reserve, in 2015 the average home value in Utah was just over $230,000. Ten years later, the average home value has more than doubled to an average price of $530,000. While 2015 to 2020 provided steady, moderate growth, the last five years were marked by the profound impacts of the pandemic […]

During the 2025 General Session, the Legislature passed three major bills that impacted the state’s budget for transportation and infrastructure: The impact of these bills is an increase from Sales Tax for transportation and a simplified calculation for specific set asides. The following post summarizes the budgetary impact of these bills and explains how they […]

To provide a useful estimate of the year-to-date revenue for any state fund, collections must account for tax earmarks that are set aside for specific purposes and in some cases generated from specific subsets of a tax. The Tax Commission’s Revenue Summary (which informs the Revenue Snapshot’s contrast between collections and revenue estimates) provides a […]

In late March, the President issued an executive order to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). What impact will this action have on education in the states is one of many questions raised by lawmakers, school professionals, and parents nationwide. Potential closure of the DOE is in the early stages, and little information is […]

To accommodate an expected half a million new residents in the next decade, policymakers have undertaken a ‘power surge’ of policy and investment, aimed at securing the ample, affordable energy resources that support Utah’s quality of life. The 2025 General Session underscored this urgency, with lawmakers considering nearly 30 energy-related bills and allocating a $10.0 […]

We’ve all been there: the second trip to the home improvement store for a part we forgot earlier; stopping at the grocery store every day during the work week; taking a student back home because they forgot their project that’s due today. These extra trips not only come with direct costs (like fuel), but also […]

With only four more periods in the fiscal year (excluding close out), Legislative economists watch with anticipation to see how close their brackets revenue projections are to the yearend tally. In the latest Tax Commission Revenue Summary, a picture of mixed performance is seen across the state’s revenue streams, with some surprising upsets and strong […]

The Utah Legislature concluded its 2025 General Session with a budget of $30.8 billion for fiscal year 2026. The budget includes $12.7 billion from state funds (General Fund, Income Tax Fund, and Uniform School Fund). Top legislative budget priorities included state fund investments in:                                 As required by the Utah Constitution, legislators balanced the budget to projections […]

Ingredients: Instructions: Yield: one balanced budget. Recipe Notes: The reports referenced in this post are available at the following links:February Revenue Snapshot (FY 25)Tax Commission Revenue Summary (Period 7, FY 2025)Revenue Publications Archive

Every year, the Legislature passes a bill that adjusts the ongoing base funding for state employees’ compensation, sometimes referred to as the “compensation bill” or just the “comp bill.” This bill has a lot of moving parts, making its nickname very appropriate—it’s not just “comp-ensation,” it’s also “comp-licated!” Many factors (such as cost-of-living changes, adjustments […]

Passed on the 10th day of session, the base budget bills for state agencies provide important direction for state agencies in the upcoming budget year. Included for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 is intent language establishing line item performance measures for most line items of every agency. This post will serve as a refresher on what […]

In December, Legislative economists provided updated revenue estimates to the Executive Appropriations Committee, along with a summary of how current spending and statutorily required and recommended revenue set asides paints a narrow margin for new spending during the General Session. As discussed last week, recent trends in collections are likely attributable to timing, and February’s […]

A quick glance at the December Revenue Snapshot shows a relatively bleak picture of year-to-date (YTD) state revenue collections, particularly for Income Tax Fund (ITF) collections which indicated a -4.3% year over year (YoY) growth rate as of the date of the report. With what may appear to be a sleight of hand, a second […]

Loyal readers of budget.utah.gov may recall this post from last month, summarizing the latest technology upgrades for the Fiscal Note system (FiNS). As a reminder, FiNS is the vehicle for drafting the very popular financial impact analyses that are attached to every piece of proposed legislation. In preparation for for the upcoming General Session, the […]

2024 marked the third year for the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Operations and Performance Team (Ops. Team). In addition to completing three efficiency evaluations for the Departments of Corrections, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture and Food, the team also worked to further improve budgetary performance measurement and idea sharing through cross-pollination with other states. Improving […]

During the 2020 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 357, “Public Education Funding Stabilization.” The bill, which was contingent on the passage of Constitutional Amendment G, laid the foundation for the annual adjustments of the Public Education budget framework. The framework includes mechanisms to address three areas of volatility in the public education budget: enrollment […]

During the 2024 interim, the Legislative staff have been hard at work designing and testing a new fiscal note system, intended to improve the user experience for policymakers, staff, and state agencies. The updated system, dubbed “FiNS” (Fiscal Note System), is in the final stages of deployment in preparation for the 2025 General Session. The […]

On Thursday, December 5th, Governor Spencer Cox released his Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Recommendations, and in doing so formally kicked off the budget season. In the state government rendition of letters sent to Santa, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget submits the statutorily required list of recommended investments to the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA) […]

On Wednesday, November 20th, legislative and executive branch economists released the revenue update for November, detailing collections for the first four months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. The Revenue Summary (TC-23) published by the Tax Commission tallies funds collected by the state, while the impact of those collections is interpreted in the Revenue Snapshot co-produced […]