August 14, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - It’s well known that Utah falls way short in per-pupil spending for public schools. Utah remains last in the nation in that student spending metric – even though Utah lawmakers have over the last few years pumped more than a $1 billion into education budgets. But now a new study by the Utah Foundation, a nonprofit think tank, finds that the state also is falling short in spending on at-risk students, those who come from … Continued
July 10, 2018(KTVX) - The Future of Transportation event was sponsored by The Utah Foundation, a non-partisan think-tank that facilitates discussions on hot-button issues in the state. Spendlove’s ideas regarding transportation are not new; many states have already implemented similar technology – and Utah is on the front lines of inviting companies and researchers to test new products. Tuesday, a Nissan Leaf – a totally electric, zero-emission sedan – was available for visitors at the panel discussion to ride. … Continued
July 05, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - The Legislature and governor, to their credit, have been increasing education spending faster than the national average — with an 8.3 percent increase between 2010 and 2015, according to a study by the nonpartisan Utah Foundation. Still, because of large families, Utah remains last in the nation in per-pupil spending. If Utahns truly value a public education, they need to pay for it. It’s as simple as that. And if just 42 percent of voters … Continued
July 03, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - When we set out, eight years ago, to try to make education funding more of a priority in the state’s policies and politics, we were never doing it to oppose the Legislature or make the Legislature or legislators look bad in this. We wanted to work with them, we wanted to find a solution. We weren’t necessarily set on one tax or the other tax. You can make the case that all of our taxes … Continued
July 03, 2018(Daily Universe (BYU)) - The win is certainly something for Romney to celebrate, but his next task is getting Utah voters to the polls this fall. According to the Utah Foundation, Utah has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the nation. In 2014, less than 30 percent of Utah residents voted in the primary election. But because Utah tends to vote Republican, the primary often decides the election. For many Utah voters, it is hard to see … Continued
July 01, 2018(Salt Lake Tribune) - The sales tax is accounts for 88 cents of every dollar that goes to Utah’s general fund – the money that’s most flexible in meeting the state’s changing needs. The sales tax is a key revenue source for local governments too. The sales tax also offers an advantage to state and local governments as a means of passing on some governmental costs to visitors. Virtually every tourist who enters Utah will pay some form of … Continued
July 01, 2018(Deseret News) - Just over half of Americans now live in areas they consider suburban (with the remainder roughly split between urban and rural). More than 90 percent of commuters get to work by car. On average, we spend about 100 minutes per day in our vehicles. Most of us love our cars. We love the experience of driving, the freedom our cars give us to travel and the flexibility to live in a place that best fits … Continued
June 18, 2018(KPCW) - Monday on Mountain Money, Renai and Doug crunch the latest numbers from The Utah Foundation on sales taxation in Utah with research analyst Christopher Collard.
June 07, 2018(Deseret News) - Sandall would like to find ways to balance transportation, education and general fund needs. He says transportation funding is lagging behind, which requires money from the general fund. Davis is from Brigham City and served as mayor there. He also was a Box Elder County Commissioner for two terms. Davis said as people are buying more services than goods, sales tax needs to be re-addressed. “There was just a study this morning that was delivered … Continued
June 05, 2018(KTVX) - A study by The Utah Foundation found that Utah’s sales tax revenue has essentially stayed the same per capita since 1976. Experts said changes do need to happen, and some ideas include dropping the tax rate. Christopher Collard was the main analyst for the study and notes that sales tax used to be the major source of revenues for the state. “This is the money the legislature really uses to cover most of the cost … Continued
June 06, 2018(Deseret News) - The Utah Foundation just released a study on sales taxes. Among its findings is that Utah has granted 91 separate exemptions to the tax, which cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Anyone who has been to the Legislature knows how attractive each of those exemptions sounds when it is proposed. And yes, state lawmakers have even created some especially for data centers. But no one ever mentions what one of these … Continued
June 05, 2018(UtahPolicy.com) - Sales tax used to be the largest source of public revenue in Utah, but in recent years, income and property tax revenues have overtaken sales taxes in importance. This is among the findings in Utah Foundation’s new report, The Everyday Tax: Sales Taxation in Utah. The report compares Utah’s sales tax to taxes in other states and looks at the factors affecting its growth. It also looks at exemptions and earmarks, as well as options … Continued
June 04, 2018(Deseret News) - A new report analyzing Utah’s sales tax demonstrates the need for continued reform, elimination of certain exemptions or possible curtailment of some state services so Utah can remain fiscally healthy in the long term, its author says. The Utah Foundation points out that during the past 45 years, Utah has seen the nation’s second-biggest decline in taxable sales as a proportion of consumer services. In fact, Utah had the same real per capita sales tax … Continued
May 31, 2018(US News) - A recent report says Medicaid spending per capita in Utah is the lowest in the nation. The Deseret News reports a study by Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan policy research nonprofit in Salt Lake City, says $703 in combined state and federal Medicaid dollars were spent per capita in Utah as of 2016. In the report, which was published Wednesday, the foundation calculated per capita data by dividing costs by the number of total residents in … Continued
May 31, 2018(Deseret News) - Medicaid spending per capita is lower in the Beehive State than anywhere else in the country, according to the findings of a Utah Foundation report published Wednesday. As of 2016, $703 in combined state and federal Medicaid dollars were spent per capita in Utah, said the foundation, a nonpartisan policy research nonprofit. Per capita data was calculated by dividing costs by the number of total residents in the state. Sam Brucker, a Utah Foundation research … Continued
May 24, 2018(Deseret News) - . . . where the cost hits most of us regularly is in health insurance premiums. Utah Foundation’s latest report, “Paying a Premium: What’s Driving Health Insurance Costs in Utah?” found that a whopping 61 percent of Utahns obtain health insurance through employers. This is the highest in the nation and significantly higher than the U.S. average of 49 percent. There are various reasons for this, including Utah’s small elderly population, low poverty rate and … Continued
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.)
