Archive

It’s hard to believe that two years ago we were writing about the abnormally dry conditions gripping the state, while last year the legislature considered how to pay for the impending threat of flooding. It’s true that every General Session has the common problem of predicting what resources will be needed up to 15 months […]

Late last week, the Tax Commission released their revenue summary report, detailing collections through eight months of the Fiscal Year (FY). As of March 7th, revenue to all sources grew 0.2%, or $22.8 million, over FY 2023. The March Revenue Snapshot, produced by the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, […]

The Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Performance and Operations Team recently published two new efficiency evaluations of state agency programs: Last December, we highlighted some of the operations methodologies that the team uses for process improvement. In this post, we describe how various methodologies relate to each of the recommendations made to the State Records Committee for […]

The Utah Legislature concluded the 2024 General Session with an operating and capital budget of $29.4 billion for fiscal year 2025. The budget includes $12.9 billion from the sales-taxed backed General Fund and the Income Tax Fund. Top legislative budget priorities included state fund investments in:  As required by the Utah Constitution, legislators balanced the […]

On Friday, February 16th, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst along with the Governor’s Office announced updated consensus revenue estimates for Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 and 2025. The net impact of these modest changes are positive. While the last few years of astronomical growth may paint available revenue in a lackluster light, in reality these figures demonstrate […]

As week four of the 2024 General Session comes to a close, so too does the work of appropriations subcommittees. Next Monday and Tuesday, the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) will hear reports from each of the seven topical budget committees. These reports detail all committee actions including motions, intent language, reallocations, fees, and the coveted […]

Recently, the Utah Legislature has identified the need to invest in mental health interventions and crisis support. S.B. 155, “988 Mental Health Crisis Assistance” (2021 General Session) created the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline line. The 988 Lifeline, which went live July 2022, has provided support, resources, and hope to individuals experiencing mental health emergencies […]

Management expert Peter Drucker said, “what gets measured, gets managed.” As a state, Utah is committed to wisely using state dollars in order to provide effective services. Recently, state agencies have been refining their strategic plans to better communicate a path to serve citizens (see executive branch agencies strategic plans). This effort focuses on the […]

Revenue Updates Earlier this week, the Tax Commission released the latest revenue summary, detailing collections through January 8th. This month’s report captures sales and wages from the first half of the holiday rush. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that Sales Tax revenues ticked up slightly from December’s revenue recap. In all, collections to the General Fund […]

We Budgeteers of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst are over-the-moon about this year’s edition of the Compendium of Budget Information (COBI)! Of course, we are also over-the-moon about the return of Mando and Grogu later this year. We’re the staff office whose conference room is named after a popular space opera, after all. Consider the source. […]

As the Legislature kicks off the 2024 General Session, many budget discussions will focus on how the Legislature can allocate funding to facilitate solutions. Meanwhile, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s (LFA) Performance and Operations team will focus on improving internal processes for working with agencies that implement appropriated funding. A crucial step of process improvement is […]

On Friday, December 15th, the Tax Commission published their monthly revenue summary (detailing collections according to tax type) in conjunction with the Revenue Snapshot from the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (comparing collections to revenue estimates). Through five months of the fiscal year, the state’s General, Income and Transportation Fund […]

On Tuesday morning, Governor Spencer Cox released his budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2025. The Governor stressed “people, growth, and good government”, asking legislators to prioritize funding for housing and homelessness, mental health services, education, and employee compensation. The Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst annually provides a summary for the nearly 200 pages of […]

The Utah Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Division currently owns two airplanes: a King Air C90 (purchased in 1999) and a King Air B200 (purchased in 2000). These planes are available for agencies and officials to use to conduct state business. Additionally, the Department of Transportation (UDOT) leases two hangars and office space (approximately 19,000 square […]

On Friday, November 17th, 2023, the Tax Commission released their Revenue Summary report, detailing collections through four months of the fiscal year. Concurrently, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget jointly published their Revenue Snapshot for November, which compares updated revenue figures to consensus revenue estimates from February of this […]

During the 2019 General Session, the Legislature passed H.J.R. 18, which amended Joint Rule 3-2-501. The bill requires each of the seven topical appropriations subcommittees to scrutinize twenty percent of their assigned budgets in a practice called the Accountable Budget Process (ABP). The goal of this interim review is to come away with an Accountable […]

On Tuesday, October 24th, the Tax Commission released the first revenue summary report for FY 2024, which details collections for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Along with that summary, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget published the October Revenue Snapshot, comparing revenues to the consensus forecast. Through […]

Starting in spring of 2020, the Federal government provided a series of stimulus packages aimed at mitigating impacts associated with the pandemic, injecting over $31 billion into the state of Utah for various purposes. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) carried the largest portion of discretionary funding under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund […]

On March 1, 2023, the Department of Workforce Services (DWS) began reviewing all Medicaid cases for eligibility. Prior to this the federal government would not allow any State to disenroll Medicaid clients regardless of eligibility changes as part of its response to the public health emergency. From March until August, the department has reviewed 121,025 […]

During the Legislature’s previous three general sessions, $2 to $3 billion in new funding has been appropriated each year for two to four hundred projects. In many instances, agencies spend the full appropriation, projects are fully implemented, and taxpayers are better served. However, this isn’t always the case, which begs the question: how can we […]

Efficiency evaluations are a collaborative process between the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA) and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB). The July 2023 efficiency evaluation of the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) identified opportunities to improve revenues by preventing empty shelves for top-selling products (a.k.a stockout) and avoiding losses from […]

As the transportation system becomes increasingly electric, the State of Utah has taken several preparatory actions including funding planning efforts and installation projects for electric vehicle charging stations. Multiple factors are driving this transition to “electric avenue” including Federal actions, market demand, and air quality on the Wasatch Front. Frequently cited as a barrier to […]

Background In response to a legislative audit during the 2016 General Session, the Legislature passed H.B. 351, “Attorney General Fiscal Amendments.” This legislation provided the Office of the Attorney General (AG) the option to function as an Internal Service Fund, or “ISF.” The AG began implementing its ISF during the 2018 General Session, concluding in […]

In addition to their base budget, Utah’s sixteen higher education institutions have the potential to increase annual funding in aggregate by $35 million beginning in FY 2025 if they meet certain performance goals set by the Board of Higher Education (board). The amount of performance funding is variable from year-to-year, and is defined in statute […]

On Thursday, July 13, the Tax Commission released its preliminary year-end Revenue Summary report detailing collections through 12 months of the fiscal year. Simultaneously, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget produced their monthly Revenue Snapshot which compares collected revenue to the consensus forecast. As of July 10th, revenue to all […]

In 1996, Congress created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). TANF replaced three separate preexisting programs: Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills training, and the Emergency Assistance program. Under TANF, the federal government provides a fixed block-grant […]

In today’s rapidly evolving world, government agencies face the crucial task of continuously improving their services to better serve the public. The paradigm has shifted from mere service delivery to emphasizing value creation for citizens. Utah has been actively working to measure government performance for over a decade now through various initiatives. In 2021, the […]

On Thursday, June 15th, the Tax Commission released their Revenue Summary report, detailing collections through 11 months of FY 2023. Through June 7th, Sales and Use Tax in total is up 6.7% year-over-year (YoY) and up 5.5% YoY excluding Sales and Use Tax Set-Asides. Individual Income Tax is down, (5.6%) when compared to the same […]

At a glance, the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023: With the all-important “X-date” nearly upon us (the projected day when the federal government would no longer be able pay its bills), a default-avoiding deal to suspend the federal debt ceiling has been reached. Over the last week, negotiations were drafted into a bill which passed […]

The Budget of the State of Utah (BOTSU) is an annual report detailing budget actions taken during legislative sessions, providing the historical record for state appropriations made during each meeting of the legislature. BOTSU is an office-wide publication of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA), all subcommittee staff participate in writing the chapters for their respective […]

On Tuesday, May 16th, the Tax Commission released their Revenue Summary Report detailing collections through 10 months of the fiscal year, in conjunction with the May Revenue Snapshot produced by the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget which compares collections to consensus revenue estimates. Total collections to all sources were down […]

During the Executive Appropriations Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 16th, the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst unveiled the newly designed budget website for the state of Utah. The site (affectionately referred to by LFA as the acronym ‘B.U.G.’) aims to make it easy for legislators and the public to find products while also understanding […]