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SALT LAKE CITY — The next legislative session is still more than four months away, but the process of shaping next year's state budget will begin in earnest in the coming weeks as various state agencies submit their proposed budgets to the governor.
The Utah State Tax Commission met Thursday morning and approved a budget request for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2025, which includes funds to improve online privacy for taxpayers and allow the commission to use tools to measure satisfaction with the state's online and phone systems for taxes.
There's no guarantee the requests will make it into the governor's eventual proposed budget, let alone be approved by lawmakers next year.
The commission's request totals $121,235,700, which mirrors the money appropriated in the current fiscal year with some increases.
Those include $500,000 for customer service experience that would "allow the tax commission to utilize a sophisticated tool to measure customer satisfaction for both our online and phone systems to help guide our direction for improvement," according to Deanna Herring, deputy executive director of the commission.
The commission also requested funds to cover a full-time position to help comply with privacy standards and protect taxpayers.
Herring said that more and more taxpayers are using credit cards, which has led to increased revenue from convenience fees.
"We also have a dedicated credit increase of $750,000 for current-year and ongoing increase to the convenience fee dedicated credit," she said. "As taxpayers increase their usage of credit cards, the amount of convenience fees increases. The authority for this increase will allow the agency to use the funds collected."
State agencies submit planned budgets to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget in September, after which the office works with the governor to prepare a budget recommendation.
The governor must release a recommended budget no later than 30 days before the Legislature convenes on Jan. 16.
