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Show Foundation Notes Red Condition Of State Funding Total state expenditure exceeded exceed-ed state revenues in Utah last year by $24.4 millon. This lact was brought out in a current study on the "Condition of Utah State Finances" prepared by the Utah Foundation, the private .governmental research organization. organiza-tion. The Foundation report shows that state governmental revenue In Utah during the 1965 fiscal year amounted to $293.6 millon, while state expenditures totaled $317.9 million. Included in the state expenditure total are $15.9 million for state buildings, $6.2 million for state aid for local school construction, $64.1 million for state highway construction, state highway construction, and $6.3 million for other capital outlay out-lay purposes. Altogether approximately ap-proximately 297e of all state expenditures ex-penditures in Utah last year went for capital outlay. Surpluses Drawn The difference between expenditures expen-ditures and available revenue was met by withdrawls from surplus sur-plus and from borrowed funds. Foundation analysts expect that the state will continue to spend more than it receives in current revenue for several years ahead including repayments and interest inter-est for the $67 million bonding program authorized this year for an expanded building program. The report notes that Utah has met part of the rising expenditure expendi-ture requirements during recent years by utilizing fund balances and surpluses. It still has been necessary, however, to raise taxes. tax-es. Increase in the sales tax, the property tax, the cigarette tax, the liquor excise (school lunch' tax, and the corporation income tax have all been adopted during dur-ing the past few years. Deplete Surplus Fund balances and surpluses which have been used in the past to help finance rising state costs have been largely deplcoted. In fact, the report points out that at the close of the 1965 fiscal year, there was no balance in the general fund and the uniform uni-form school fund had a deficit of $3 million. Major reason for the deficit in the school fund was the failure of tax collections to reach advance optimistic estimates. esti-mates. The general fund was, therefore, there-fore, $4 million short In meeting the full amount of an authorized $36 million transfer to the school fund during the past biennium. Based on present revenue estimates es-timates and expenditure appropriations appro-priations made by the 1965 Utah Legislature, the Foundation predicts pre-dicts that the general fund could conclude the present (1965-67) biennium with a surplus of $1.6 million. Possible Reduction The state property tax levy needed to balance the uniform school fund for the 1965-66 school year was 8.6 mills ($8.60 per $1,000 assessed valuation). Foundation Foun-dation analysts forcast that this mieht be reduced to 7-7H mills next year if revenue estimates are realized and no new major spending Is authorized by a special session of the legislature. This state school levy could be reduced even further (possibly as low as 5.8 mills) if a realistic estimate Is used next year in making preliminary calculations of the cost of the school program. Estimates High The report points out, for example, ex-ample, that the preliminary estimates es-timates of the number of distribution distri-bution units used In determining determin-ing the cost of the school program pro-gram for 1964-65 were 255 higher high-er than the final figure. The Foundation study states that the preliminary estimate of the number num-ber of distribution units for this year (1965-66) also appear to be inflated by 200 units. Such an error could cause an overstatement overstate-ment of $1.7 million in the preliminary pre-liminary estimate of school requirements. |