Chapter 44: Utah

Utah’s public school finance plan is a modified foundation program; Utah’s official title for that program is The Minimum School Program. The foundation grant, which guarantees each student a minimum level of fiscal support, is only one component of the Minimum School Program. The value of the foundation grant, named the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) in Utah, is set each year by the legislature. School districts are required to tax local wealth (assessed valuation of local property) using the program’s Basic Tax Rate, which is also set by the legislature. The difference between what can be raised locally by the Basic Tax Rate and the amount guaranteed between what can be raised locally by the Basic Tax Rate and the amount guaranteed by the state is paid by revenues generated from the State’s Uniform School Fund, primarily personal income tax—- constitutionally earmarked for this purpose. Wealthy districts, using the Basic Tax Rate, capable of raising revenues greater than the value of the foundation grant are subject to recapture. Recaptured funds become revenue to the Uniform School Fund the following year. Finance of the foundation grant is heavily supported by the state, which pays about 80% of its total. On average, local school district revenues account for $776. of the $4,038 guarantee by the state per WPU. Such an active effort on the part of the state accounts for the high degree of fiscal equity evident in the state’s school finance plan.