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We hope Governor Gary Herbert is right about the economy . . . that it has bottomed out and is rebounding, and that the state's revenue picture will improve significantly in the next year.
Optimism for the future is vital in difficult times. However, optimism must be tempered with a heavy dose of reality, and that's where KSL questions the viability of the governor's recently released budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010.
Herbert says his $11.3 billion spending plan precludes any tax increase whatsoever, while "protecting" education spending at current levels. To pull that off, in KSL's view, will be tantamount to Tiger Woods being named husband of the year.
Among other obstacles, the state's budget needs to survive the current fiscal year. To do that, the governor has ordered state agencies to cut spending another three percent through June 30th. And is it really wise to fund education at current levels when 11,000 new students will be entering the public school system next year!
As we said, we hope the Governor is right - that the economy will rebound and his politically expedient "no new tax" mantra can be realized. But if that doesn't happen, no one should be surprised.
