Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday that Utah can still meet the budget needs of public education despite a shortfall in state revenue growth — but there won't be another tax cut this year.
"We have to remember that we're still looking at a $775 million surplus," Huntsman said during his monthly press conference broadcast on KUED Channel 7. "I think when all is said an done, we'll find our education numbers are about 4 percent higher than last year."
That should mean "another very, very good year for teachers," the governor said.
Among the options under consideration is giving teachers a raise of between $2,000 and $2,500 while raising the weighted pupil unit by 2 to 3 percent. Other options are a 1 percent, one-time bonus for teachers, he said. "There are two or three ways we can approach this."
Huntsman is still seeking the equivalent of a 7 percent increase in the WPU, from which teacher salaries and benefits are paid, that he included in his nearly $13 billion budget, according to his spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley.
The governor's budget did not include a tax cut. Lawmakers had talked earlier in the session about giving Utahns a $100 million property tax cut, but acknowledged that's unlikely to happen this year after the new revenue estimates released Monday fell short.
"That's right," the governor said. "We're coming off record tax cuts and tax reform." Now, he said, it's time to evaluate the economic impact of the $220 million reduction in income and sales tax approved last year.
There still could be as much as an $18 million tax cut this session, he said, but it would be targeted at helping the self-employed pay for health insurance.
It's an election year for Huntsman as well as many lawmakers. The governor said voters should remember last year they received "the largest tax cut the state has ever seen" and that Utah is still strong economically compared to other states.
"I think we will weather whatever economic storms are ahead of us quite well," the governor said, calling the projected drop of about $340 million in the size of the state's estimated surplus "still a pretty good year."
Utah will continue to grow economically, he said, and should be able to buck the trend of budget cuts that some states are already facing. "It's hard to know where we're going to be," the governor said.
E-MAIL: lisa@desnews.com