The Utah Legislature concluded its 2023 General Session with a budget of $29.4 billion for fiscal year 2024. The budget includes $14.6 billion from state funds (General Fund, Income Tax Fund, Uniform School Fund) and $170 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
Top legislative budget priorities included state fund investments in:
- Taxes — Reduced Income Tax ($400 million), repealed state sales tax on food conditional upon repeal of the constitutional income tax earmark ($165 million), removed freeze on basic property tax levy ($145 million), cut gas tax ($33 million), offered Low Income Housing Tax Credit ($52 million), Child Tax Credit ($10 million), and Adoption Tax Credit ($3 million), among other tax cuts;
- Public Education — $233.1 million to increase the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) value by 6% from $4,038 to $4,280 and $196.9 million for educator salary bonuses;
- Transportation — $1.2 billion for commuter rail, trail projects, Cottonwood Canyons transportation, and other enhancements;
- Higher Education — $35 million for performance funding;
- Medicaid — ($127.2 million) one-time in FY 2023, $27.3 million ongoing, and ($300,000) one-time in FY 2024 to provide medical services to an estimated 505,000 clients in FY 2023 and 435,600 clients in FY 2024;
- State employee compensation — $242 million ongoing, including state employees: 5% cost-of-living adjustment, 3.75% targeted, 2.5% discretionary pay-for-performance; and higher education employees: 8.75% discretionary pay; and
- Debt reduction and avoidance — $915 million ($775 million transportation debt pre-payment, $140 million state revenue bond avoidance).
As required by the Utah Constitution, legislators balanced the budget to projections of available revenue.
This document lists the most significant budget actions according to appropriations subcommittee: Spending Summary.
There are a number of resources available for the public and legislators to understand more about Fiscal Year 2023 and 2024 funding:
Budget Quick Facts – A pocket-sized guide to the budget.
DataViz – An interactive graphical representation of the budget. View the budget by sources, uses, and new money. Click a bubble to see how that item has changed over time, and in what bills it changed. Search for budget requests and find where it exists in appropriations bills.
Compendium of Budget Information (COBI) – A complete guide to the Utah State budget. Find budget requests on the Issues tab, and Line item/program budgets on the Financials tab.