State finance officials show solid reserves and debut a daily revenue‑tracking tool

State finance officials told the Executive Appropriations Committee that Utah’s fiscal position remains strong and the Legislative Fiscal Analyst Office unveiled a new daily revenue‑tracking application intended to give lawmakers higher‑frequency context for revenue forecasts.

Van Christensen, director of the Division of Finance, presented a two‑page financial summary and said the state closed FY25 with a $22.7 million surplus in the general fund and roughly $247 million in the income‑tax fund. He also noted that the state carries AAA bond ratings from the three major agencies and reported about $1.1 billion in outstanding general obligation debt at June 30 (under $900 million by Oct. 31).

Travis Eisenbacher, an LFA economist, demonstrated a new revenue tracking app that draws on daily collections in the state’s revenue accounting database, allows users to view year‑to‑date collection trajectories by day back to 2007, overlay consensus forecast bands, smooth noisy daily growth measures, and drill into the transactions behind snapshot anomalies. "We have a mountain of timely data available to us already," Eisenbacher said, explaining the tool’s data source and functionality. He provided a QR code in the demo and staff said they will email a secure link and demo materials to committee members.

Committee members praised the tool as a long‑sought capability that will help contextualize monthly snapshot reports.

What happens next: LFA will distribute access and documentation to legislators and staff; members may use the tool during the budget cycle to evaluate whether revenue collections are on track or showing transient noise.