Federal Stimulus Helps FY 2020 End Better than Expected Earlier this month, the Tax Commission released the final TC-23 Revenue Summary for Fiscal Year 2020. The revenue decline to the Education Fund was less severe than previously projected in June, dropping 10.1% compared to the projected 11.6% decline. The General Fund ended the year with […]

The preliminary TC-23 Revenue Summary Report for twelve months of FY 2020 was released by the Tax Commission Thursday, July 16th, along with the Revenue Snapshot report from the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst (LFA) and the Governor’s Office and Management and Budget (GOMB). The TC-23 is preliminary in that it will be modified […]

The Utah Tax Commission released its TC-23 Revenue Summary Wednesday, June 17th, 2020, detailing the actual collections through 11 months of Fiscal Year 2020. As expected, individual income taxes are down, partially due to the shift in timing of income tax collections from FY 2020 to FY 2021, as well as the effects of COVID-19. […]

On Tuesday, May 12th, the Tax Commission released their TC-23 Revenue Summary Report for the month of May. Readers may recall that the April TC-23 report was summarizing collections made in March, for sales and wages which took place in February. Because of the lag between collections and reporting, this month’s Revenue Summary is the […]

The April TC-23 report released by the Tax Commission reports revenue collections to the General, Education, and Transportation Funds are all on target with consensus projections through the first nine months of the fiscal year. The April report shows collections through March, for sales and wages that occurred in February. For the third month straight, […]

Through the end of February, revenues from all taxes were on target, representing an increase of $571 million over FY 2019. Sales and use tax grew by 7% over the previous year, and income tax collections were 8.9% higher than February 2019. However, impacts to revenues from COVID-19 related business closures and layoffs are not […]

On Thursday (Feb. 20th), the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget and the Legislative Fiscal Analyst released their updated 2020 Consensus Revenue Estimates. These estimates, along with the Tax Commission’s TC-23 Report for revenue collections to date, paint a picture of state financial status to date, along with expectations for the next 16 months. Both […]

First Half of FY 2020 in the Books Reports for December and January show both General and Education Fund revenues coming in on-target, with collections for the first half of the year slightly higher than targets adopted in November. December’s numbers showed General Fund sales-tax collections slightly below the estimate, while January’s revenue performance was […]

State Revenue Growth Higher than February Projections In the first quarter of the Fiscal Year, income tax grew 11.3% which represented a $135 million dollar increase over the first quarter of last year. Nominally, state and local sales taxes each grew by similar amounts, at $80 million and $81 million, respectively, over the previous fiscal […]

The year-end numbers are in In Fiscal Year 2019, the revenue surplus to the education fund was $134 million. After adjustments (such as putting money in the rainy-day fund), the available balance is $107 million. The General Fund, supported mostly by the sales tax, ended the year at a deficit of $38 million, which was […]

Despite a probable deficit in the General Fund, the Utah State Tax Commission’s latest report on revenue collections for twelve months of fiscal year 2019 suggests that Utah may have a combined General and Education fund revenue surplus of nearly $100 million at year-end. While collections to the sales-tax backed General Fund lag estimates by […]

Combined General and Education Fund revenue collections for the current fiscal year (2019) totaled $6.9 billion through the first eleven months. That represents year-over-year growth of 7.0%, exceeding the current revenue target of 5.7%. This despite a slight decrease in the growth rate compared to April. Collections for the General Fund, however, fall short of […]

Utah’s population grew nearly 15% this decade, ranking No. 1 in the nation.1 By 2060, Utah’s population is projected to nearly double. The dramatic growth is a cause for concern for local governments across the state as communities address the fiscal challenges and quality of life for existing residents. The Utah Foundation recently published the […]

Earlier this week, the Tax Commission released the TC-23 report for the month of April. Exceeding the current revenue target of 5.7%, General and Education Fund revenue collections totaled $6.4 billion through the first 10 months of FY 2019, representing a year-over-year (YOY) growth of 7.3%. The strong surge in April revenue collections were due […]

The Tax Commission’s TC-23 report, which captures a snapshot of revenue collections through the first 9 months of fiscal year 2019, shows that Income Tax Withholding is still below Target range at -1.7%. Throughout the year, this funding has been volatile as year-over year (YOY) revenue has gone from a growth rate of 11.2% in […]

The Tax Commission released their monthly revenue report (TC-23) earlier today. Through the first 8 months of FY 2019, according to the report, the revenue sources within the General Fund are on Target. Income Tax Withholding is still below Target range at -5.9%. However, the rate is an indication of increased funding compared to December […]

The Tax Commission’s TC-23 was released earlier today.  The report, which captures a snapshot of revenue collections through the first 7 months of fiscal year 2019, shows that revenues from most sources are on target or above target.  That’s not the case, though, for the largest revenue source – income tax.  Income tax is down […]

The Tax Commission released their 6th month TC-23 on January 22nd.  We are halfway through the fiscal year.  Through the first 6 months, the state has collected about 45% of the current revenue collection forecast.  Typically, at this point in the year, the state would have collected between 46% and 51% to reach target. The […]

The Utah State Tax Commission released its TC-23 revenue report for the first four months of FY 2019 today.  The report, as interpreted on our monthly revenue snapshot, shows that growth slowed from the third to the fourth month, from 13.8% to 11.2%.  The current growth rate puts our estimated collections range above the projected […]

On October 16, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Office reported to members of the Executive Appropriations Committee that Utah closed fiscal year 2018 with a budget surplus of nearly $158 million ($8 m GF/$150 m EF).  For purposes of comparison, at the same time the prior year, fiscal year 2017 ended with a $27 million surplus.  […]

Utah’s legislative staff offices are honored to receive the 2018 Ethical Leadership Award for Government from the Daniels Fund and Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative at the University of Utah’s Eccles School of Business.  Each year the award goes to businesses, nonprofits and government agencies that demonstrate the highest ethical standards and practices in the state of […]

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Each summer, the Legislative Fiscal Analyst looks-back at prior year appropriation items and fiscal notes to determine accuracy of budget, schedule, and performance.  This year, Clare Tobin Lence presented the Fiscal Note and Budget Item Follow-up Report in Executive Appropriations’ July meeting.  She and her colleagues highlighted a number of follow-up items in the meeting, […]

Utah legislators have long known the benefits of forward thinking.  After the “Dot-com” bust of the early 2000s, they developed tools like temporal balance and the working rainy-day fund to assure the state could weather the next recession.  They were the first in the nation to implement evidence-based rainy-day policy in 2008.  In the 2018 […]