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Show Utah's financial position excellent, but new spending must be controlled Although Utah attained an enviable position among the states by achieving a budgetary budget-ary surplus this year and a ibalanced budget for next year with no increase in taxes tax-es a note of Caution is sounded sound-ed by Utah Foundation, the private research organization. The Foundation warns that when money appears plentiful, spending pressures become heavy and are much more difficult dif-ficult to hold in check than when finances are obviously strained. Programs launched in times of short-term prosperity pros-perity usually are continued and grow in the future. When the fiscal situation again tightens, the expanded cost of such new programs could constitute con-stitute a severe Iburden on the economy. According to the study, an important factor in Utah's present pre-sent excellent fiscal condition has been the leveling off in school enrollments during recent re-cent years. Education accounts for approximately 50'r of all state and local government expenditures in Utah and is six months of 1971. Between June and November of 1971, however, the annual rate of increase in the consumers price index amounted to only about 2.2' i. Utah's relative economic position among the fifty states which had declined ibadly tlur-ing tlur-ing the latter portion of the 1960 decade appeared to be improving slightly in 1970 and 1971. Foundation analysts observe that Utah's per capi-ta capi-ta income in 1962 was less than 9' below the U.S. average. aver-age. By 19(39 it had fallen to almost 20 under the average for the nation. The Utah situ-ation situ-ation improved in 1970 and appeared to be .holding up in 1971. Another development noted in the Foundation year-end review was the replacement of teacher shortages in Utah with teacher surpluses. The study points out that many recent teacher graduates in Utah have 'been unalble to find teaching positions in the state. equal to nearly ll'A of total personal income in the state. The report points out, however, how-ever, that a recent upturn in the state's rate along with a reversal of the out-migration pattern that prevailed in the middle and late 1960's indicates indi-cates that school enrollments in Utah probably will resume an upward trend during the latter part of the 1970's. Thus, there is the probability that Utah may experience another fiscal squeeze in the second half of the 1970 decade. Foundation analysts in reviewing re-viewing major Utah developments develop-ments of the past year note that some critical problems occurred in public welfare during dur-ing 1970. These were met by emergency legislative action in 1971 and increased regular appropriations by the 1971 Legislature. In recent months, however, the caseload in some critcal welfare categories lev-, eled off, and it appeared at year's end that a substantial amount from the 1971-72 appropriation ap-propriation might remain unspent un-spent on June 30, 1972, at the close of the present fiscal period. per-iod. Inflation continued as a major problem in the economy during 1971, tout there were some definite signs that this has been brought under control con-trol by the latter part of 1971. The Foundation study shows that the consumers price index in-dex rose by nearly 6fr in 1970 and at an annual rate of more than 4 during the first |
