Pork Barrel Report 2022

THE PORK BARREL

PURPOSE

Thefirstannualeditionof“ThePorkBarrel”seekstoshinea newlightonstategovernmentspendinginUtah.Ourhopeis thatthissunshinewillallowtaxpayerstoconsideranddebate thevariousdriversofspendinginUtah.Welookforwardto futureeditionswheredifferentareasofspendingcanbe explored.

WHY REVIEW GOVERNMENT SPENDING?

TAXATION IS A FUNCTION OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Whengovernmentisnotconstraineditcontinuestogrowandexpand.StateandlocalgovernmentinUtahisno exception.Forexample,overthelast5yearstheUtahstatebudgethasgrownmorethan74%.Thatmightbe surprisingtosome,butitistrue.GeneralFundandEducationFundspending,whichiswhatthelegislaturehas controlover,hasgrownfrom$6,676,808,900in2018to$11,624,106,100in2023.Thatisanincreaseof $4,947,297,200or74.10%.

AftertheUtahTaxpayersAssociationwasfoundedin1922,thefirstissueofthemonthlynewsletter,the“Utah Taxpayer”waspublishedinJanuaryof1923.Oneofthesubtitlesintheheadingwas,“EconomyInthe ExpenditureofPublicMoney”.MembersoftheAssociationknewbackthen,justasweknowtoday,thattaxesare afunctionofgovernmentspending.Justasoutofcontrolspendingcanleadtohighertaxes,constrained spendinggrowthanddisciplinecanleadtolowertaxesforalltaxpayers.

LETS GET STARTED

Inthe2022report,wehighlightafewareas:one-timespending,ongoingspending,CulturalandCommunity Engagement,TransportationandHigherEducationbuildings.Infutureyearswewillreviewotherareasofthe budget.

Beginningwiththe2022GeneralSession,thereisnowalistofallRequestsforAppropriations(RFAs)

ONE-TIME VS ONGOING SPENDING

Thebudgetatthestateleveliscomprisedoftwocategoriesofspending:

ONE-TIME SPENDING ONGOING SPENDING

The general definition of one time spending is the expenditure of funds that are believed to be temporary or “one-time” in that they are not expected to be ongoing in the future.

The general definition of ongoing spending is the expenditure of funds that are believed to be recurring and reliable and are expected to continue into the future.

Each year, elected officials at the state level make a decision on how much revenue is onetime and how much is ongoing. This decision is critical for taxpayers, since tax reduction should always be paired with ongoing revenue and not one-time revenue.

ONGOING GENERAL AND EDUCATION FUND SPENDING

DOLLAR INCREASE

$5BN

BetweenFY2018andFY2023, therewasanincreaseof $4,947,297,200inspending.

PERCENTAGE INCREASE

74.1%

Ongoingspendingincreasedby morethan74%overallbetween FY2018andFY2023.

CAGR

9.68%

Ongoingspendingincreasedby almost10%eachyear.

$12,500,000,000

Source: Budget of the State of Utah and Related Appropriations, 2018-2022

$11,624,106,100

$10,000,000,000

$10,253,856,800 $8,338,819,600

$7,552,043,500

$7,500,000,000 $5,000,000,000 $2,500,000,000 $0

$6,676,808,900 $7,284,246,600

The Department of Cultural and Community Engagement aims to enhance life 'through celebration, innovation, science,

literature, and traditions". Although total dollar amounts are small by comparison to other budget categories, both ongoing and one-time appropriations to this department have increased. Here we highlight a few FY2023 appropriations which have contributed to the rising budget in this category.

Sources: Budget of the State of Utah and Related Appropriations, 2022; community.utah.gov

TRANSPORTATION BUDGET

$2.1BN

Betweenthe2021and2022General Sessions,$2.1bnwasappropriatedto transportationinvestmentfromthe GeneralFund.Thiswasacombinationof bothone-timeandongoingspending, meaningthisshould not beacontinued increase. $725msalestaxrevenueand$800mgas taxrevenuearealsocontributedto transportationannually.Theseamounts arenotincludedinthisfigure.

2021 SESSION

HB433

HB433appropriated$834.6mfromthe GeneralFundforroadandtransit projects,including$28mforlocalroads.

2022 SESSION

HB003

HB003appropriated$1bninone-time spendingfornewtransportation projects.Thiswasallcashfunding,and tookadvantageofincreasedrevenue causedbyfederalstimulus.

SB006

SB006appropriated cash forprojects thathadpreviouslyauthorizeddebt financing.Thedollaramountsstayed thesame.Thisactionwasintendedto reducetheamountofinterestthestate wouldoweondebt-financedprojects.

Asnotedonbudget.utah.gov:

Sources:

https://budget.utah.gov/lanes-trains-and-automobiles/ https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/static/HB0433.html https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/HB0003.html https://le.utah.gov/~2022/bills/static/SB0006.html

"While policymakers approved sufficient cash for all these projects, they did not rescind the debt authorization from statute and should consider doing so in the 2023 General Session."

HIGHER EDUCATION CAPITAL BUDGET

The Higher Education Capital Budget is a portion of the Capital Budget used to build new buildings at state-owned colleges and universities. These funds are often supplemented with private donations. This graph shows total spending on Higher Education Capital projects over the last six years, comprising both ongoing and one-time expenditures. SB102 from the 2019 General Session approved $120m in ongoing spending for the Higher Education Capital Projects Fund and Technical Colleges Capital Projects fund, meaning this significant increase in spending will continue.

Source: Interactive Budget Visualization, budget.utah.gov

During the 2020 General Session, $95.5m was appropriated for FY2021; however, these funds were revoked in SB5001 passed during the 2020 5th Special Session, hence the $0 total in FY2021.

THE PORK

BARREL REPORT