1

Utah Taxpayers Association

July 2015

Utah School Spending Report: Fiscal Year 2013 - 2014

Public education is one of the largest recipients of taxpayer dollars in Utah. Funding public education consumed 30%
of Utahs state budget in FY 2014, second only to social services (34%). When higher education is included, education in
Utah receives 42% of the states annual budget.
Every year the Utah Taxpayers Association compiles the Utah State Office of Educations financial and statistical data
for each of Utah's 41 school districts and 106 charter schools and uses this information to compare spending trends
between LEAs (local education agencies district and charter schools).
Utahs school districts and charter schools received $5,423,388,114 in revenues in F Y 2014 and spent $5,206,113,923.
So where does the money come from and w here does it go?

Which state & local taxes go towards public education?

Individual Income Tax

All of the states individual income tax is used for education

purposes, including public education and higher education.
FY 2014 Yield = $2,889,791,902

Corporate Franchise Tax

All of the states corporate franchise tax is used for

education purposes, including public education and h igher
education.
FY 2014 Yield = $313,536,797

Property Tax

In fiscal year 2014, 53% of all property taxes paid across the
state went to public education.

State Property Tax

Statewide Basic Levy: The legislature requires all school

districts to levy this tax for M&O purposes. The rate is
the same across the state, but the amount of funding
generated varies based on the value of property in each
school district.

Local Property Tax

Local school districts have the authority to levy property

taxes directly to fund district schools. Five d ifferent local
levies are available.
Board Local Levy: Approved by the local school board
for M &O and supplemented by the state. All school
districts currently impose this levy.
Capital Local Levy: Approved by the local school board
to fund capital projects. Some revenues may be used for
M&O. All school districts currently impose this levy. An
additional Capital Local Levy rate of .0006 is imposed on
Granite, Jordan, Salt Lake, Murray and Canyons school
districts for temporary equalization purposes.
Voted Local Levy: Approved by the local school district
electorate for M &O and supplemented by the state. All
school districts except for Daggett, Garfield, Grand,

Source: Utah State Tax Commission

and Utah State Office of Education

Kane, M organ, Uintah and Wayne currently impose this

levy.
Debt Service Levy: Levied to fund general obligation
bonds. All school districts except for Emery, M illard, San
Juan, So. Summit and Wayne currently impose this levy.
An additional debt service levy is levied on Grand and
Canyons school districts for temporary equalization
purposes.
Judgment Recovery: Levied to fund a property tax
judgment against the school district as a result of a
successful appeal of over-collection of property tax.
Emery is the only school district currently levying for
judgment recovery.
FY 2014 State & Local Property Tax Yield = $1,418,998,572

Wine, Liquor, Heavy Beer Mark-Up

Wine, liquor and h igher alcohol content beers are subject

to a mandatory sales price markup. Ten percent of the
revenues from this markup go towards the Uniform
School Fund to support the school lunch program.
FY 2014 10% Yield = $34,858,021

www.utahtaxpayers.org

Utah School Spending Report - Fiscal Year 2013-2014

A Comparison of Per-Student Spending and School Finance
Per-Student Spending
A

Teachers
K

General Fund + 10% of Basic

School Districts

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41

Alpine
Davis
Granite
Jordan
Canyons
Nebo
Weber
Washington
Salt Lake
Cache
Provo
Tooele
Ogden
Box Elder
Iron
Uintah
Murray
Logan
Wasatch
Duchesne
Park City
Sevier
Carbon
So. Sanpete
San Juan
Millard
Morgan
No. Sanpete
Emery
Juab
Beaver
So. Summit
Grand
Kane
No. Summit
Garfield
Wayne
Rich
Piute
Tintic
Daggett
DISTRICT Total/Avg
CHARTER Total/Avg
STATE Total/Avg

October
2013
Enrollment
72,419
68,573
68,106
52,855
33,674
31,230
31,028
27,099
23,965
16,038
14,799
14,107
12,489
11,131
8,685
7,591
6,435
5,987
5,786
5,021
4,630
4,585
3,369
3,162
3,020
2,841
2,632
2,408
2,310
2,287
1,579
1,495
1,455
1,212
990
930
501
479
304
250
194
557,651
54,900
612,551

Instruction

72%
69%
68%
65%
62%
61%
70%
67%
68%
69%
72%
67%
56%
68%
70%
65%
68%
71%
71%
60%
63%
66%
66%
74%
55%
68%
67%
67%
62%
69%
62%
68%
59%
62%
70%
59%
63%
62%
61%
60%
55%
67%
62%
67%

Student Services

Instruction Student
Instruction
Media
Expense as Support
Admin
Expense
Services
% of GF Services
$3,950
4,050
4,391
3,500
4,064
3,484
4,120
4,238
4,935
4,124
4,604
3,857
3,908
3,899
4,171
3,912
4,310
4,392
5,168
3,914
6,419
4,449
5,213
5,187
5,733
5,532
3,447
4,773
5,927
3,989
4,917
5,472
4,844
6,145
5,823
4,867
6,615
8,197
8,007
7,561
9,039
$4,159
$3,561
$4,106

L
M
Debt Service Capital Outlay

$169
214
291
183
282
360
213
299
241
169
417
306
381
194
201
167
319
381
263
128
479
172
209
146
423
114
108
312
227
213
376
340
180
514
155
161
234
263
0
395
8
$247
$244
$247

$220
260
245
283
356
265
81
344
492
250
95
148
1,132
130
161
154
193
266
100
211
564
61
107
204
861
191
42
303
165
165
63
128
639
347
84
63
378
197
33
433
761
$270
$149
$259

$521
595
623
594
901
658
658
614
637
491
813
540
759
596
578
697
745
556
787
747
1,315
676
1,102
555
1,106
799
652
677
1,370
619
1,159
979
1,128
1,360
972
1,554
1,512
2,325
2,380
2,026
2,825
$658
$951
$684

Total
Nutrition
Student General
O&M
Transport
Fund
$461
590
795
594
704
607
577
625
717
530
347
679
674
582
623
587
584
402
565
908
1,022
1,056
826
596
1,330
994
483
658
1,410
535
1,123
727
1,004
946
540
1,150
1,040
1,181
1,670
1,654
2,467
$635
$776
$647

$187
174
139
194
223
296
235
206
253
413
136
261
166
367
261
494
167
195
370
593
467
338
417
314
881
482
433
362
503
262
248
387
463
609
687
405
699
955
1,064
510
1,414
$236
$50
$220

$5,508
5,883
6,484
5,347
6,531
5,670
5,884
6,327
7,274
5,977
6,412
5,791
7,020
5,768
5,995
6,009
6,317
6,192
7,253
6,500
10,266
6,751
7,874
7,002
10,335
8,114
5,165
7,084
9,602
5,782
7,886
8,034
8,258
9,920
8,262
8,200
10,478
13,118
13,153
12,578
16,514
$6,204
$5,732
$6,162

$307
349
410
343
351
353
397
372
525
366
384
447
624
373
444
409
344
486
386
380
323
453
438
503
493
557
358
525
478
497
432
259
470
373
544
337
416
707
794
313
697
$384
$174
$365

Bond
Interest
$238
260
129
63
333
236
156
316
125
176
95
225
344
224
176
162
261
54
446
75
56
232
74
285
0
0
363
245
0
340
601
0
853
24
241
121
0
145
840
181
74
$200
$878
$261

Total
Facility
Spending
Construction
$963
534
430
1,078
1,146
1,089
1,377
1,079
518
453
481
351
414
797
691
2,915
2,946
776
1,516
2,432
1,170
1,111
748
515
1,618
3,207
380
2,414
696
685
320
1,157
291
390
436
987
449
402
907
3,655
5,398
$899
$1,103
$917

$7,015
7,026
7,453
6,831
8,361
7,348
7,814
8,093
8,442
6,972
7,373
6,813
8,402
7,162
7,305
9,496
9,868
7,508
9,601
9,387
11,815
8,547
9,135
8,305
12,446
11,878
6,266
10,268
10,775
7,303
9,240
9,449
9,872
10,708
9,483
9,645
11,343
14,372
15,694
16,727
22,683
$7,688
$7,887
$7,706

Revenue
R

School
Admin Classroom
Average
Student/
Salary as Teachers
Teacher
Teacher
%
as % of
Comp
Ratio
Teacher Staff
Salary
$72,824
74,971
69,525
69,182
66,058
66,716
73,862
71,616
83,979
69,692
70,968
64,436
67,302
68,544
66,008
70,223
80,473
72,632
82,771
66,779
97,073
72,932
77,537
75,070
74,020
84,941
74,965
75,350
83,355
68,337
79,593
80,030
65,603
81,020
79,044
77,023

85,281
75,065

76,623
$74,652
$52,051
$63,351

190%
159%
168%
190%
186%
201%
164%
187%
152%
151%
181%
179%
175%
167%
171%
162%
164%
175%
173%
156%
163%
156%
157%
161%
144%
135%
165%
154%
167%
166%
158%
158%
170%
153%
167%
123%
124%
154%
138%

163%
185%
174%

54%
48%
49%
54%
55%
47%
47%
50%
44%
41%
44%
53%
48%
47%
47%
46%
50%
46%
48%
48%
46%
50%
43%
41%
36%
43%
49%
46%
47%
45%
45%
48%
41%
42%
44%
48%
52%
52%
47%
83%
43%
49%
55%
50%

23.0
23.9
22.0
23.5
22.7
23.5
22.5
20.6
20.8
23.8
22.1
21.2
20.7
22.7
21.1
23.4
21.6
21.5
19.8
21.6
17.9
21.4
18.4
20.0
17.4
20.0
24.4
20.9
17.6
22.6
20.6
19.0
16.9
17.4
18.4
16.8
13.6
15.0
12.3
15.6
13.2
22.2
21.2
22.1

Property Tax Base

U

Local

State

Federal

33%
37%
35%
36%
50%
31%
31%
44%
53%
31%
35%
35%
32%
42%
38%
55%
47%
38%
59%
49%
91%
32%
50%
22%
26%
50%
45%
32%
53%
42%
50%
66%
60%
47%
56%
36%
26%
55%
21%
18%
44%
42%
5%
24%

60%
55%
54%
57%
43%
61%
60%
47%
34%
60%
51%
56%
50%
50%
52%
37%
45%
49%
35%
44%
6%
55%
42%
68%
45%
41%
50%
56%
40%
50%
40%
30%
32%
46%
39%
55%
66%
39%
68%
78%
50%
49%
89%
69%

7%
8%
11%
7%
7%
8%
8%
9%
13%
8%
14%
9%
20%
8%
10%
8%
8%
13%
6%
6%
3%
13%
8%
11%
29%
9%
5%
11%
7%
8%
10%
4%
8%
6%
5%
10%
8%
6%
15%
4%
6%
9%
6%
8%

Property
Tax Rate
Assessed
FY 14
(minus
Valuation Property
.001535
per Student Tax Rate
statewide
basic levy)
$213,557
241,136
304,140
255,658
450,637
187,994
250,596
398,235
727,045
225,111
298,446
271,677
252,642
321,594
330,539
701,149
443,398
330,820
645,753
486,787
2,396,422
306,431
603,900
174,966
308,823
759,512
333,212
268,899
883,846
353,648
694,619
1,002,743
999,674
943,144
939,772
653,530
559,560
1,670,040
351,169
225,408
1,409,951
$565,273

0.008699
0.008710
0.006994
0.007132
0.008111
0.009526
0.006920
0.007544
0.006651
0.006926
0.007094
0.009593
0.008754
0.008614
0.008042
0.006261
0.007003
0.008108
0.007610
0.007691
0.004630
0.006527
0.007186
0.009325
0.007851
0.005984
0.007805
0.007602
0.005856
0.008070
0.006635
0.006752
0.006303
0.005019
0.006409
0.006656
0.003747
0.004954
0.006651
0.007696
0.004443
0.007124

0.007164
0.007175
0.005459
0.005597
0.006576
0.007991
0.005385
0.006009
0.005116
0.005391
0.005559
0.008058
0.007219
0.007079
0.006507
0.004726
0.005468
0.006573
0.006075
0.006156
0.003095
0.004992
0.005651
0.007790
0.006316
0.004449
0.006270
0.006067
0.004321
0.006535
0.005100
0.005217
0.004768
0.003484
0.004874
0.005121
0.002212
0.003419
0.005116
0.006161
0.002908
0.005589

Tax Rate
minus
basic levy
as % of
State
Average

School
Districts

128%
128%
98%
100%
118%
143%
96%
108%
92%
96%
99%
144%
129%
127%
116%
85%
98%
118%
109%
110%
55%
89%
101%
139%
113%
80%
112%
109%
77%
117%
91%
93%
85%
62%
87%
92%
40%
61%
92%
110%
52%
100%

Alpine
Davis
Granite
Jordan
Canyons
Nebo
Weber
Washington
Salt Lake
Cache
Provo
Tooele
Ogden
Box Elder
Iron
Uintah
Murray
Logan
Wasatch
Duchesne
Park City
Sevier
Carbon
So. Sanpete
San Juan
Millard
Morgan
No. Sanpete
Emery
Juab
Beaver
So. Summit
Grand
Kane
No. Summit
Garfield
Wayne
Rich
Piute
Tintic
Daggett

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41

Data from the Utah State Office of Education and the Utah State Tax Commission. All calculations done by the Utah Taxpayers Association.
10% of Basic = capital projects (fund 32) expenditures that are used for general fund purposes are counted in general fund totals and excluded from capital projects total
A: Districts listed in order of highest to lowest enrollment
I: Includes salaries and benefits of drivers, mechanics and related personnel, travel and per diem, and costs related to busing students to and from school and school activities
C: Includes teacher salaries and benefits, substitutes, aides, teaching supplies, textbooks and materials
K: Includes salaries and benefits of food service personnel, food costs, and costs related to food preparation and service
E: Includes salaries and benefits of guidance personnel, health and social workers, psychologists and secretarial staff
L: To avoid double counting, bond principal payment is excluded
F: Includes salaries and benefits of library personnel and clerical help, library books and audiovisual material
M: Includes acquisition and construction of buildings and amounts paid to non-payroll vendors to operate, repair, or maintain or rent district property; supplies and equipment for new schools. Exlcudes bond principal payment
G: Includes salaries and benefits of district administration, principals, business office and secretarial support
O: Includes salary and benefits
H: Includes salaries and benefits of custodial and maintenance services, related materials and supplies
V: Assessed property value in the district per student. Adjusted for RDA diversions

July 2015

Utah Taxpayers Association

Utahs FY 2013 2014 Public Education Revenues

The following charts show the sources of public education revenue in Utah and where those revenues are allocated
according to fund. Some revenue is restricted to a certain fund, meaning that it can only be used for certain purposes.
Beyond the taxes listed on the front page of this report, other sources of education funding include: unclaimed
property returned to the state (escheats), school lands trust fund, one-time legislative appropriations, fees and
donations, etc.
The first chart shows total dollar amounts of revenue to school districts and charter schools. The second chart shows
the total revenues from the first chart as rounded percentages, and the last chart shows total revenue per student.

Revenue Sources Total Dollars

Local

Fund

State

Operations
2
Capital
Debt
Nutrition
Non K-12 & Other
Total

Property
Other
$885,537,544 $223,502,982
$238,969,673
$12,606,233
$326,782,508
$736,907
$0 $62,795,737
$9,859,927
$37,525,694
$1,461,149,652

$337,167,553

Federal

Total

$2,566,837,181
$14,319,960
$703,643
$34,061,820
$28,896,830

$283,981,965
$5,972,670
$4,318,137
$126,816,074
$11,246,231

$3,959,859,672
$271,868,536
$332,541,195
$223,673,631
$87,528,682

$2,644,819,434

$432,335,077 $4,875,471,716

Revenue Distribution by Source

Fund
1

Operations
2
Capital
Debt
Nutrition
Non K-12 & Other
Total

Local
3

Property
22%
88%
98%
0%
11%

Other
6%
5%
0%
28%
43%

30%

7%

State

Federal

Total

65%
5%
0%
15%
33%

7%
2%
1%
57%
13%

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%

54%

9%

100%

Revenue per Student

Fund
1

Operations
2
Capital
Debt
Nutrition
Non K-12 & Other
Total

Local
3

Property
Other
$1,445
$365
$390
$21
$533
$1
$0 $103
$16
$61
$2,385

$550

State

Federal

Total

$4,190
$23
$1
$56
$47

$464
$10
$7
$207
$18

$6,465
$444
$543
$365
$143

$4,318

$706

$7,959

Notes:
1. Includes the general fund and student activities fund.
2. Includes the capital outlay fund and building reserves fund.
3. Includes statewide basic levy and all local levies.
4. This revenue total does not match the expenditure total from the front page because there is an additional revenue category for
districts and charter schools, other financing sources & uses. Additionally, revenues overall do not match expenditures because
expenditures for facility construction are incurred immediately, whereas property taxes to retire construction bonds are received
over several years. School districts may use revenues to increase reserves or may use existing reserves to increase expenditures.
Utah Taxpayers Association
656 East 11400 South, Suite R
Draper, Utah 84020
(801) 972-8814