Public Finance
The Gardner Institute employs a team of economists who specialize in public finance. We also benefit from a Public Finance Council that guides our research agenda and supports the development of a public finance practice area. Our research focus areas include, but are not limited to: tax policy, revenue forecasting, fiscal impacts, budget stress-testing, budget transparency, and public finance best practices.
Gardner Business Review: U.S. and Utah Debt Policy: A Study in Contrasts
The state of Utah’s bonding practices vary dramatically from that of the federal government. Instead of borrowing for ongoing programs as the federal government does, Utah wisely borrows for needed capital projects such as highways and buildings.
The Unprecedented Federal Fiscal Policy Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Impact on State Budgets
Massive fiscal stimulus supported the economy during the pandemic, but also contributed to goods shortages, inflation, and long-term debt.
Utah State Government Growth Presentation
In 2020, U.S. government expenditures climbed to 31.2% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the largest expenditure as a percent GDP since the end of World War II. Such a level of government participation in the nation’s economy alarms some analysts. Has the state of Utah followed a similar trend or is it on its own path.
Utah State Government Growth: Following the Feds or On its Own Path?
In 2020, U.S. government expenditures climbed to 31.2% of the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the largest expenditure as a percent GDP since the end of World War II. Such a level of government participation in the nation’s economy alarms some analysts. Has the state of Utah followed a similar trend or is it on its own path?
A Visual Guide to Tax Modernization: Understanding Property Taxes
Utahns share a common interest in a state and local tax system that provides for our needs, keeps the economy strong, and remains viable over the long term. This visual guide, which is the third in a series, illustrates key components of Utah’s property tax – the oldest and most stable of Utah’s major taxes.
USHE Data Book: The Costs and Benefits of Higher Education
As a large share of Utah’s state budget and a key input to economic development, higher education plays a significant role in the Utah economy and is associated with many individual and societal benefits.
A Visual Guide to Tax Modernization in Utah: User Fees
The 2020 Census results confirmed what Utah residents already sensed: the Beehive State grew faster than any state in the country over the past decade, more than doubling the national growth rate. Growth brings opportunity, but it also brings challenges, as Utahns need an affordable place to live, water to care for basic needs, roads and other infrastructure to support a rapidly growing economy, clean air to breathe, schools and teachers to develop the workforce, and many other attributes of quality growth. In the coming years, Utah leaders must make significant investments if the state is to continue to prosper [...]
Policy Brief: Public Asset Development in Utah
Public asset development rose to national awareness with the publication of The Public Wealth of Cities by Dag Detter and Stephen Fölster in 2017. Detter and Fölster, among others, offer the asset inventorying process as a public finance tool to help public sector organizations – including cities, counties, and any other land-owning public entity – to increase revenue without increasing taxes or public debt. Specifically, Detter and Fölster address assets that are “economic assets or operations that generate non-tax revenue, or could do so if properly structured and used.”
Retail Sales and the Pandemic: A Most Remarkable Year
This research brief examines 2020 retail trade sales in the context of long-term historical trends in sales activity. A seemingly straightforward comparative analysis of yearly sales, however, was complicated by data comparability issues. Hence, care was taken to ensure an “apples to apples” approach, which required some discussion of evolving tax reporting and remittance requirements
March Newsmaker Breakfast: Federal Stimulus and its Impact on Utah
Hear from local economists and experts on the impact of federal stimulus spending on Utah.
