This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah taxpayers will end up paying $100 million more in property and gas taxes over the next year, thanks to a pair of tax hikes passed during the last legislative session, economists told lawmakers Tuesday.
The additional tax revenue will come on top of a windfall of tax collections, thanks to an economy that has recovered from the Great Recession and is churning along faster than had been forecast.
Lawmakers may see between $20 million and $180 million more in tax revenue over the coming year than had been predicted, most of it from income taxes earmarked for education. Under law, half of the surplus will go into the state's reserve accounts, known as Rainy Day Funds.
"It's really income taxes that are driving current revenues and revenue growth," legislative economist Andrea Wilko told state leaders Tuesday.
Last session, lawmakers hiked property taxes across Utah in an attempt to equalize public education funding — meaning taxpayers in areas with high property values, like Park City, will subsidize schools in rural parts of the state and other areas with a lower property-tax base.
They also approved a new gas-tax formula that will mean the tax paid will increase over time with the price of gas.
Together, the taxes will generate an additional $100 million next year and $6.2 billion between now and 2040 — $4.3 billion in gas taxes and $1.9 billion in property taxes.
Wilko told lawmakers that the state's economic indicators remain strong and a revived housing market could drive tax collections higher.
Unemployment remains low and is expected to stay at 3.4 percent through the rest of the year, then fall to 3.2 percent next year. But the wages workers earn continue to lag following the recession.
Since 2009, wages have grown at just 1.8 percent, less than half the 3.8 percent growth rate before that time.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke