SALT LAKE CITY – Utah saw a large revenue surplus come in this year, and officials spoke to FOX 13 News about how the money may be spent.
Utah’s revenue surplus came in at about $242 million, about $122 million of which is considered “one time” money and officials said it will likely be used fund growth in public education and buildings for higher education.
Officials said the other $120 million will go to the state’s rainy day fund, and that will increase that fund’s balance to more than $400 million.
Rep. Becky Lockhart is the speaker of the Utah House of Representatives, and she spoke about the surplus.
“Remember, this is one-time money, so we will be spending it on one-time things such as buildings, roads, you know, one-time initiatives, if you will, because this isn’t money that we can count on every year,” she said.
Rep. Tim Cosgrove is the minority whip in the Utah House of Representatives, and he chimed in as well.
“When you’re talking about that $242 [million] surplus, you know right away it’s going to take $100 million just to fund the status quo,” he said.
State law allocates half of the surplus to the rainy day fund, and the decision regarding where to allocate the remaining funds will be made by lawmakers during the next legislative session.
