This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The president's budget was released May 18, and calls for the elimination of funding for public broadcasting along with other federal programs.

We all know from the experience of running our households during times of scarcity, that prudent budgeting requires a prioritization of expenses based upon how valuable it is to the welfare of our families or how much value we get from our expenditure.

Yes, food, clothing, housing and safety are all important elements of the family budget. Some have higher priorities than some others. So, let's talk about value for a dollar spent.

In a recent survey by Survey Sampling International for 2016, public television is No. 1 in public trust when compared to other forms of television, newspapers, courts of law and Congress.

Public television is No. 2 in providing excellent value for your tax dollars. No. 1 is military defense. Seventy-seven percent of respondents think that money spent on public television is well spent.

Public television is the Number 1 educational media brand for children. Among children's television program providers, 90 percent of respondents feel that public television models positive social and emotional behaviors for children.

In Utah, KUED served the educational needs of 70,000 children, parents and caregivers last year. More than 50 hours of non-violent, commercial-free, educational television were delivered to Utahns.

And that was before the launch of KUED PBS Kids, a 24/7 kids channel on 7.3 in March. Since the launch, we know that overall viewing of PBS Kids grew by 30 percent but, among low-income households, viewing grew by 70 percent.

In 2016, KUED conducted 48 Ready To Learn Family Nights statewide and reached 10,247 low-income families at 29 Title 1 elementary schools. This is in addition to the regular news, public affairs, history and entertainment programming we provide every year.

So, what does this cost each Utahn? That's $1.35 each for federal support and 83 cents in state support each year. How much do we spend for a regular cup of coffee? KUED and public television are a tremendous value for $2.18 per year, per person. That's about as good as it gets.

James Morgese is the general manager of KUED.