An apparent rush of spending by Wasatch Front consumers this summer has put the Utah Transit Authority's budget back on track, but officials say the revenue slide throughout the recession may ding the agency's bond rating when it borrows up to $200 million next month for rail construction.

UTA took in $16.7 million in June, about $1.3 million more than projected, and made up most of a $1.5 million gap between year-to-date revenues and the budget they support. It's enough to make the agency more comfortable that it will end the year in the black, but not enough to celebrate an end to austere times or the fare hikes they helped spur.

The agency's tax collections so far are almost identical to last year's at the six-month mark, but the projected total by year's end is $19 million lower than the pre-recession peak of $192 million in 2007.

"We're starting to see a little stability," UTA Finance and Operations Committee chairman Chris Bleak said.

The numbers come from a July financial report, the agency's latest available.

The recession's lower revenues, coupled with UTA's increasing debt, likely will cause credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade the transit agency's bond rating from AAA to something in the AA range, Chief Financial Officer Ken Montague told committee members.

That's not enough to substantially increase interest costs for borrowing, he said, but it knocks UTA out of a rare position of creditworthiness among transit agencies.

UTA will seek to sell up to $200 million in bonds next month, with the final figure depending on its ability to convince rating agencies that there's adequate revenue to cover the payments. The money is meant to keep contractors working into next year on a rail-expansion program that aims to complete a Salt Lake City-Provo commuter line and TRAX routes linking the urban core to West Jordan, West Valley City, Draper and Salt Lake City International Airport.

Two of those light-rail lines, the West Valley City and Mid-Jordan extensions, will be complete by this winter, UTA General Manager Mike Allegra said, followed by months of public comment for bus route realignments before opening.

UTA collects a 0.68 percent sales tax on purchases in Salt Lake County and less in outlying areas of its Wasatch Front service area. Fares, including a 25-cent fuel surcharge imposed this summer, are $2.25 for a standard bus or light-rail ride and more for premium services such as commuter rail.

bloomis@sltrib.com —

UTA hopes to sell $200M in bonds

P UTA will seek to sell up to $200 million in bonds next month. The money is meant to keep contractors working into next year on a rail-expansion program.