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Utah Senate hears revenue estimates showing roughly $1 million two‑year shortfall
Summary
Appropriations chair Leray McAllister told the Senate that updated revenue estimates show about $3.8 million more for fiscal 1997 but a $7.5 million sales‑tax shortfall in the current year, leaving a net two‑year general‑fund decrease near $1 million; leadership recommended retaining current budget figures and not adjusting subcommittee amounts.
Sen. Leray McAllister, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the chamber on Feb. 14 that updated revenue projections through Dec. 31 show mixed results for the state budget. "I'm inclined to suggest to you here that we have some good news and some bad," McAllister said, before outlining the figures.
McAllister said the Senate’s working projection for fiscal 1997 shows a general‑fund increase of about $3,800,000, driven largely by increases in sales and use tax and certain other receipts. But he said current‑year sales tax collections through June 30, 1996, are down by roughly $7,500,000, producing an overall general‑fund decline of about $4,800,000 for the current year. Taken together, McAllister said, the two years net out to a decrease in available general‑fund resources of about $1 million.
The appropriations chair also described shifts in the Uniform School Fund: individual income tax receipts were noted as higher for 1997, but corporate franchise‑tax receipts were lower, producing a net negative effect on school funding. McAllister attributed part of the corporate tax weakness to an announced delay by Micron in planned capital or operational timing that reduced franchise tax receipts.
McAllister recommended retaining the budget assumptions already adopted by subcommittees rather than attempting mid‑session adjustments. "Therefore…our recommendation is that we continue with the estimates, the figures that we've given," he said, urging members not to build additional spending assumptions onto the numbers.
Senators asked clarifying questions about the presented totals and McAllister walked through the arithmetic that produced the net two‑year result. No formal motion to change committee or subcommittee allocations was adopted on the floor; leadership signaled they would hold to the current estimates as the basis for ongoing budget work.
What happens next: the Senate will use these estimates as the working baseline for appropriations; any changes would require committee action or a floor motion supported by a majority of members.
