Enacted Budget – Fiscal Year 2027
Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed a series of bills making up the state budget for fiscal 2027, which provides $31.6 billion in total funds, a decrease of 0.2 percent compared to the revised fiscal 2026 budget. The budget provides $12.4 billion in general fund, income tax fund, and uniform school fund (GF/ITF/USF) spending, an increase of 4.8 percent compared to the revised fiscal 2026 budget. Net state funds revenues are estimated at $11.9 billion in fiscal 2027, an increase of 2.7 percent from the revised fiscal 2026 forecast. Looking at reserves, total projected fiscal 2026 balances of $1.2 billion represent about 10.5 percent of combined fiscal 2026 General, Income Tax, and Uniform School Fund appropriations.
Budget highlights for fiscal 2027 include law and order priorities such as funds to support the design and construction of new prison space; judicial reforms including additional judgeships and creation of a Constitutional Court; increase state highway patrol trooper levels; and additional funds for indigent appellate defense attorneys. For water, the budget purchases property and water rights for the benefit of the Great Salt Lake, supports costs of litigation concerning the state’s interests in water, funds development of a pilot project to extract water from confined saline aquifers, and continues drone-based cloud seeding. Education priorities in the budget include an increase in the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) of 4.2 percent, additional services to at-risk students, allocations to the higher education Performance Funding Restricted Account, funds to technical colleges to increase instructional capacity, and one-time funds for higher education research initiatives. The budget provides resources for housing and homelessness including one-time funds to seed a revolving loan program to support creation of affordable housing; homelessness services including shelter and housing, along with behavioral health services; and one-time funds to provide a $20,000 loan to eligible first-time homebuyers purchasing a newly constructed home. Health and safety-net services supported in the budget include additional funds for Medicaid caseload and inflation and increasing provider rates in services for individuals with a disability, foster care, home and community-based services, and personal care. Major tax changes in the fiscal 2027 budget include reducing state income and corporate tax rates from 4.5 percent to 4.45 percent; expanding the Child Care Business Credit tax credits to off-site child care facilities and increasing the amounts employers can claim; expanding eligibility for the child tax credit by increasing income-based phase-out thresholds; increasing taxes on cigarettes and other nicotine products; and reducing the state gas tax by 6 cents per gallon for six months.