Budget officials from the governor's office and the Legislature concluded Monday that Utah's economy has faltered even more than expected, and they would need to carve even more than the $200 million shortfall that they had projected last week.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. issued a call to legislators Monday evening, convening a special budget-cutting session on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, Senate chairman of the Legislature's budget committee, said that if the economy had continued on the same path it was on in July the shortfall would have been $200 million, but conditions have worsened since then.

"I'm not surprised it's gone up," said Hillyard. "I'm actually thankful it didn't go up more."

Legislators approved about $600 million in spending increases during its last session, ending in March. They will now have to go back in, department by department, and chip away nearly half of that.

"While Utah is seeing the impact of the national economy, our sound financial policies and practices have put the state in a fortunate position of being able to deal with this downturn in our revenue with a balanced approach," Huntsman said in a statement.

Both individual income taxes and sales taxes came in well below where they were expected. Under Utah's Constitution, the income taxes go to education, but leaders from both the House and Senate say they plan to protect public education from budget cuts - at least for this year.

However, Hillyard said the commitment is not to cut any money from classroom programs. There may be some trimming at the Utah State Office of Education and other administrative programs. Higher education will not be immune from the cuts.

The commitment to try to safeguard education takes roughly half of the state's $12 billion budget off the table, and much of that is tied up in federal programs that are beyond the state's control.

Hillyard said a 1 percent across-the-board cut would whittle about $52 million from the budget, meaning to get to the $272 million target, lawmakers would have to axe more than 5 percent across-the-board.

Protecting education would essentially double that figure to 10 percent.

"I don't think any of us want to do a 5 percent or 10 percent cut," he said. "I think we want to find other ways to do that."

One of those other ways would be to draw on $100 million that legislators squirreled away during the last session in anticipation of a slowing economy. The state also has a Rainy Day Fund that is in excess of $400 million. The problem is that those pots of money will not be replenished. Once the money is spent, it is gone, so they can only provide a one-year patch to a budget hole.

"I always describe it as a parachute," said Hillyard. It can soften the landing, but it is not a long-term solution.

Recognizing the impending budget pinch, Huntsman asked his department heads in August to begin formulating a revised budget with contingencies for a 1 percent, 3 percent and 5 percent reduction with an eye toward trying to solve the problem internally.

But leaders in the Legislature, whose job it is to set the budget, said they wanted to have a hand in fashioning the solution, and urged the governor to call the special session before the headache turned into a migraine.

The Legislature had to have several similar budget-cutting sessions in 2002, but lawmakers waited until the shortfalls had ballooned to much larger levels that year, and the cuts, in some cases were more severe.