MISCALCULATION: BANGERTER'S BUDGET DOESN'T INCLUDE ENOUGH FUNDS FOR RECOMMENDED 6 PERCENT PAY RAISE FOR TEACHERS WITHOUT SHORTFALL, LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ANALYST SAYS.Gov. Norm Bangerter's budget contains only enough money to give teachers a 5 percent pay and benefit hike - not the 6 percent promised - lawmakers were told on the opening day of the Legislature.

Only hours before Bangerter referred to the 6 percent increase in his State of the State address Monday evening, shortfalls in his budget were being outlined to senators by Leo Memmott, legislative fiscal analyst.Boosting teacher salaries is expected to be among the most debated issues during the 45-day session. Teachers walked out of their classrooms last fall and have threatened to strike again this year.

What they are asking for is a 5 percent pay increase plus an additional $2,000 annually. Once benefits are subtracted from the governor's proposed package, teachers would see a pay increase of about 4 percent.

Memmott said the governor's budget did not take into account the pay increases given to teachers in some school districts that were above the 3 percent budgeted by lawmakers last year.

That led to an undercalculation in the amount of money needed to pay Social Security taxes and retirement benefits for the current level of salaries plus the additional 6 percent.

The difference between what was budgeted and the amount needed to pay both current levels of Social Security taxes and retirement benefits and those on the proposed increase is about $12 million, Memmott said.

The governor's budget director, Dale Hatch, acknowledged that there is a problem with the calculations, although he said he did not believe it would amount to a $12 million shortfall.

Hatch said his office is going over the calculations again, this time with more accurate numbers. However, he was not certain whether money would be found to make up the difference.

"There's no question that it's a priority," Hatch said of giving teachers a 6 percent pay and benefit increase. "But that doesn't mean we've made a decision to cut other budgets to fund that."

Not surprisingly, the news that the proposed increase was below 6 percent did not sit well with the head of the state's largest teachers union, Utah Education Association President Jim Campbell.

Campbell noted that just last week, legislative leaders were talking about the possibility that another 1 percent could be found to boost salaries and benefits beyond 6 percent.

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"We're going to be back where we started," he said after learning of the miscalculation. "Is this the game we're playing up here?"

Besides not having enough to pay for the entire compensation package proposed, Memmott also told a Senate caucus, the governor's budget would go about $6 million beyond spending limits set last session.

Bangerter had hoped that his 1990-91 budget would stay within the limits set by the law. Those limits are determined in part by the size of the state's population.

Because the most recent population survey turned up fewer Utahns than expected, less money can be spent. Lawmakers already have to lift the limitation this year to spend surplus funds.

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