New revenue numbers, agreed upon by the governor’s and Legislature’s budget offices, said that the sales and income tax collections for the year will total about $13 billion, up about $200 million from last year, but down $112 million from what they were expecting just a few months ago.
The sales and income tax collections combined with money from the gas tax and mineral lease collections make up about 40 cents of every dollar the state spends, but represent the bulk of what lawmakers have at their disposal to fund new projects or expand existing programs.
Senate Budget chair Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, said lawmakers are used to calling lean budget cycles the “socks and underwear” years, but this year they might have to wash them and keep wearing the old ones.
“This is going to be a very limited year and maybe we should all take a hard look at the asks that we have,” he said.
t’s not quite as bad as legislative leaders are conveying. The money they have available to spend does not include about $230 million that they set aside for tax cuts. Legislative leaders would not say that a tax cut is off the table.
“That’s above my pay grade,” Stevenson said.
Legislators have cut taxes each of the previous four years, chopping $1.3 billion from state revenues over the last four years.
Two bills are looking to once again cut the income tax. One, by Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, would cut Utah’s tax rate from 4.55% to 4.45%. Another by Riverton Republican Sen. Dan McCay would cut the rate to 4.5%. They would cost $195 million and $97 million, respectively.
Read the full story at sltrib.com.
This article is published through the Utah News Collaborative, a partnership of news organizations in Utah that aims to inform readers across the state.