May 21, 2018(Fox 13 News) - Utah is still last in the nation in public education per-pupil funding according to numbers just released by the U.S. Census Bureau. “We’re dead last, and we’ve been dead last for a long time,” said Shawn Teigen with the Utah Foundation. In 2016, Utah spent $6,953.00 per student compared with the national average of $11,762.00 per student. Looking through past census reports, Utah has been last in per-pupil spending through all of the 21st Century … Continued
April 30, 2018(Erie News Now) - Utah businesses are taking the brunt of premium increases more so than workers themselves, according to the Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan policy research nonprofit. Drawing from federal data, the Utah Foundation reported the annual premium payments that employers make on behalf of their workers in family plans jumped from an average of $9,050 in 2006 to $13,059 in 2016, an increase of 31 percent. Workers paid an average of $3,116 in 2006 and $3,966 in … Continued
April 29, 2018(Deseret News) - WaveOrtho’s plight is not unusual. Monthly premiums charged for employer-sponsored health plans rose on average by about a third from 2006 to 2016 in Utah, according to an extensive analysis released this week by the Utah Foundation. Compelled to switch insurers multiple times over several years in a search for the best deal, OrthoWave even tried paying an allowance to employees in 2015 that they were to use toward coverage they would purchase on the … Continued
April 30, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - The two categories of mobile sources are on-road and non-road. Of the eight categories of sources, non-road engines and vehicles, on-road light commercial, pickups and heavy-duty trucks contribute 74 percent of emissions, Cars contribute only 18 percent. Bottom line? There are other mobile sources contributing far greater emissions than cars. In a 2016 Utah Priorities report from the Utah Foundation, Bryce Bird, director of DAQ, noted that there are few easy policy solutions left regarding … Continued
April 24, 2018(KSL Newsradio) - KSL Hosts Dave Noriega and Debbie Dujanovic aren’t happy with their insurance, and they don’t know anyone who is. It’s no wonder why. Plans have been shifting increases from premiums into deductibles, so in addition to barely covering your monthly costs, now you’ll have to pay more if you do need care. Let’s hope nobody has a bad spill on the slopes because it doesn’t show signs of getting any better.
April 24, 2018(KSL Newsradio) - A new report shows Utahns are getting hit by higher healthcare costs, higher premiums, and higher out-of-pocket expenses. The Utah Foundation says premiums for healthcare plans at work rose by about one-third from 2006 to 2016. Research analyst Sam Brucker says it might have been much larger if not for high-deductible plans. “Employers are shifting the cost to the employee,” she said. Brucker says the high-deductible plans are fine until they actually need to be … Continued
April 24, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - Recent years have seen Utahns’ monthly premiums and deductibles on their employer-backed insurance plans climb dramatically, a new report says. Premiums leapt by at least 30 percent from 2006 to 2016, while at the same time many Utah employers shifted to plans with high deductibles — coverage that requires workers to pay more of their medical costs out of pocket when they get sick. As a result Utah families “are really getting hit from both … Continued
April 24, 2018(KTVX) - A new study is shedding light on the state of health care costs in Utah. Our insurance premiums and out of pocket expenses are up. That has Utahns, like Dan Bammes feeling the crunch. He’s been battling cancer for the last 15 years, and also has diabetes. “Over the years I have, for several years maxed out on deductibles and out of pocket maximums,” said Bammes, Communications Director for the Utah Foundation. Over those years … Continued
April 18, 2018(KSL Newsradio) - So the Utah Foundation, which tracks these issues, says under the new tax code, you’re obviously going to pay less. but the way Utah tax laws work, larger families will likely pay more in taxes than they have in the past. (Conversation begins about 3 minutes 38 seconds into the audio.)
May 16, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - Utah families have a new resource to compare their state income tax liability for 2017 to their expected taxes for 2018. The online calculator is available on the Utah Foundation website (www.utahfoundation.org/2018/04/utah-state-income-tax-calculator/). The calculator is based on the findings of Utah Foundation’s most recent report, The Education Tax: Income Taxation in Utah. Users can enter their tax filing status, the amount of their 2017 itemized deductions (or the standard deduction), the number of personal exemptions … Continued
April 12, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - A recent change in tax law means that Utah families that had previously been able to reduce their tax liability by claiming deductions for each child will now lose that advantage. The cost to individual households, depending on their size and income, could be nothing, a few hundred dollars or as much as $1,000. And it all happened without the Utah Legislature doing a thing. Which — even if you like large families paying more … Continued
April 10, 2018(KNRS TalkRadio) - Peter Reichard, President of the Utah Foundation, joins the show to discuss how Utah Lawmakers failure to address the impact of federal tax reforms means Utah families will face an even larger tax burden in 2018. (Interview begins 13 minutes 33 seconds into the program.)
April 10, 2018(KSL Newsradio) - Tax changes made — and not made –in the 2018 Utah Legislative Session could mean a higher bill for some families. The Utah Foundation says Utah lawmakers failed to address the impact of federal reforms on the state taxpayer exemption, and that means most Utah families could have a higher state tax bill. “Initially, Utahns’ incomes are taxed at 5 percent. Then lower and middle income households qualify for taxpayer tax credit. But the federal … Continued
April 09, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - Federal reforms in 2017 eliminated the $3,038-per-dependent state tax exemption that helped lower tax bills for Utahns earning up to about $150,000. As a result, lower- and moderate-income households that benefited most from the tax credit will pay more in state tax. At the same time, the nominal state income tax cut, from 5 percent to 4.95 percent, “disproportionately benefits high-income earners,” said Peter Reichard, president of the Utah Foundation, an independent policy group. That … Continued
April 08, 2018(The Spectrum) - A tweak to Utah’s state income taxes is unlikely to make significant differences to individual taxpayers this year, but it could have longer-term impacts on the state economy and how it rates compared to other states. The tax change, which drops Utah’s marginal income tax rate from 5 percent to 4.96 percent, drops Utah’s ranking among states from 30th to 34th nationally, but the actual income tax burden per $1,000 of personal income actually ranks … Continued
March 22, 2018(KUTV) - A report conducted by Utah Foundation reportedly shows the results of changes to Utah’s income tax resulting from the 2018 legislative session. The report also explores possible impacts of future changes to the income tax, which is committed exclusively to public schools and higher education. The report, titled “The Education Tax: Income Taxation in Utah,” is the second report in a series of reports by the Utah Foundation that addresses Utah’s current tax structure.
March 14, 2018(Deseret News) - When the subject of property taxes comes up, local officials are apt to bring up Utah’s Truth in Taxation law. As the name of the law implies, Utah’s Legislature created the law as a means of ensuring transparency to decision-making about taxes. But one practical effect of the law was to limit local governments’ ability to reap windfalls from increasing property values. And from the perspective of some local officials, the law has stunted revenue … Continued
March 07, 2018(Deseret News) - Property taxes are unpopular, and this would put at risk a system that has kept a downward pressure on those rates for years. The Utah Foundation reports Utah’s property tax burden is the 34th highest in the nation. The reason it isn’t higher is that lawmakers long ago passed a law known as Truth-in-Taxation. Under that system, local governments may not collect more in property taxes than they did the previous year, other than to … Continued
February 23, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - While property taxes account for about one-fourth of all the tax revenue collected by state and local governments in Utah, the burden of property taxes in the state is relatively low — 34th in the nation. Those are among the conclusions of a new Utah Foundation research report, The Essential Tax: Property Taxation in Utah. The key findings of the report include: Utah’s property tax burden ranks 34th among states. The tax burden has been … Continued
February 23, 2018(Daily Universe) - The Utah Foundation held a policy discussion on solutions to Utah’s air quality problems on Tuesday at Zions Bank headquarters. Utah Foundation President Peter Reichard said education about air quality was the primary purpose of the discussion. “So much of the challenge of air quality is getting people to understand what the heart of the matter is,” Reichard said. “The more we address the facts of the matter, the more we can make progress.” A … Continued
February 18, 2018(Deseret News) - After 30 years as a small business owner serving Utah employers in the insurance marketplace, I confront this issue daily — with both the rising costs of health care for our employees, and the challenges that our clients are facing. For years, our clients were lucky: Utah’s healthy lifestyle and youthful population meant that we had relatively low health care costs. But just because our costs are low doesn’t mean that they aren’t rising. A … Continued
February 14, 2018(San Juan Record) - Administrative costs in Utah’s K-12 public schools are among the lowest in the nation, Utah received the lowest amount of federal funding of any state, and spending varies widely among Utah’s school districts. These are a few of the findings from Utah Foundation’s new report, Simple Arithmetic? K-12 Education Spending in Utah. The report makes national and statewide comparisons and explores some of the reasons for spending patterns.
February 11, 2018(KTVX) - Every year the state of Utah spends billions of dollars on K-12 education, but where is all that money actually going? A new report is helping track those education funding numbers. Shawn Teigen with the Utah Foundation stops by Inside Utah Politics to help break down the numbers. “6 billion dollars a year. That’s from all sources. State, local and federal sources. From the state that is basically almost a quarter of the budget and … Continued
February 06, 2018(KUER) - Utah Foundation’s Vice President Shawn Teigen says this research is timely because this year some major decisions are being made regarding education spending. Along with Utah’s budget, there’s the Our Schools Now initiative that could increase taxes statewide. Take the number that’s often thrown around, “second.” As in, when it comes to per pupil funding, Utah is the second lowest spender in the country. “What does it tell us?” Teigen asks. “If we don’t move … Continued
February 06, 2018(KSL-TV) - Paying for our public schools costs nearly 25-percent of the state’s budget, so it’s important to know where the money is going. New research shows exactly whre the money is not going. When asked how much money is spent on administrative costs, Utahns believe it’s 26-percent. Asked how much should be spent on administration, according to Utah Foundation, Utahns say fourteen percent. The research shows it’s half that.
