63J-1-313.  Establishing an Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account — Providing for deposits and expenditures from the account — Providing for interest generated by the account.

(1)  As used in this section:

Terms Used In Utah Code 63J-1-313

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)  ” Income Tax Fund appropriations” means the sum of the spending authority for a fiscal year that is:

(i)  granted by the Legislature in all appropriation acts and bills; and

(ii)  identified as coming from the Income Tax Fund.

(b)  ” Income Tax Fund budget deficit” means a situation where appropriations made by the Legislature from the Income Tax Fund for a fiscal year exceed the estimated revenues adopted by the Executive Appropriations Committee of the Legislature for the Income Tax Fund in that fiscal year.

(c)  ” Income Tax Fund revenue surplus” means a situation where actual Income Tax Fund revenues collected in a completed fiscal year exceed the estimated revenues for the Income Tax Fund in that fiscal year that were adopted by the Executive Appropriations Committee of the Legislature.

(d)  “Operating deficit” means that, at the end of the fiscal year, the unassigned fund balance in the Income Tax Fund is less than zero.

(2)  There is created within the Income Tax Fund a restricted account to be known as the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account, which is designated to receive the legislative appropriations and the surplus revenue required to be deposited into the account by this section.

(3) 

(a) 

(i)  Except as provided in Subsection (3)(a)(ii), at the end of any fiscal year in which the Division of Finance, in consultation with the Legislative Fiscal Analyst and in conjunction with the completion of the annual audit by the state auditor, determines that there is an Income Tax Fund revenue surplus, the Division of Finance shall transfer 25% of the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account.

(ii)  If the transfer of 25% of the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account under Subsection (3)(a)(i) would cause the balance in the account to exceed 11% of Income Tax Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus occurred, the Division of Finance shall transfer only those funds necessary to ensure that the balance in the account equals 11% of the Income Tax Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus occurred.

(iii)  The Division of Finance shall calculate the amount to be transferred under this Subsection (3)(a):

(A)  before transferring from the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus any other year-end contingency appropriations, year-end set-asides, or other year-end transfers required by law; and

(B)  excluding any direct legislative appropriation made to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account for the fiscal year.

(b) 

(i)  Except as provided in Subsection (3)(b)(ii), in addition to Subsection (3)(a)(i), if an Income Tax Fund revenue surplus exists and if, within the last 10 years, the Legislature has appropriated any money from the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account that has not been replaced by appropriation or as provided in this Subsection (3)(b), the Division of Finance shall transfer up to 25% more of the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account to replace the amounts appropriated, until direct legislative appropriations, if any, and transfers from the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus under this Subsection (3)(b) have replaced the appropriations from the account.

(ii)  If the transfer under Subsection (3)(b)(i) would cause the balance in the account to exceed 11% of Income Tax Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus occurred, the Division of Finance shall transfer only those funds necessary to ensure that the balance in the account equals 11% of Income Tax Fund appropriations for the fiscal year in which the revenue surplus occurred.

(iii)  The Division of Finance shall calculate the amount to be transferred under this Subsection (3)(b):

(A)  before transferring from the Income Tax Fund revenue surplus any other year-end contingency appropriations, year-end set-asides, or other year-end transfers required by law; and

(B)  excluding any direct legislative appropriation made to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account for the fiscal year.

(c)  For appropriations made by the Legislature to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account, the Division of Finance shall treat those appropriations, unless specified otherwise in the appropriation, as replacement funds for appropriations made from the account if funds were appropriated from the account within the past 10 years and have not yet been replaced.

(4)  Notwithstanding Subsection (3), if, at the end of a fiscal year, the Division of Finance determines that an operating deficit exists, the Division of Finance may reduce the transfer to the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account by the amount necessary to eliminate the operating deficit.

(5)  The Legislature may appropriate money from the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account only to resolve an Income Tax Fund budget deficit.

(6)  Interest generated from investments of money in the Income Tax Fund Budget Reserve Account shall be deposited into the Income Tax Fund.

Amended by Chapter 456, 2022 General Session