Largest County Budget Contributors, Part 5 of 5

Pass-through Monies  

Hopefully over the last four posts it becomes easier to see why our county’s budget is higher than most counties around the state. The most obvious reason is that 40 percent of all Utahns live here in Salt Lake County. Compared to other counties around the state, our parks, recreation center, arts, human services, and library system are second to none. There is another large portion of our budget that voters don’t see the county managing. It’s no small number, either. In Salt Lake County, 20 percent of the budget includes pass-through dollars to other agencies.

On August 4, 2014 the Office of the State Auditor announced that a taxing entity, when imposing a tax, must recognize that tax revenue for financial reporting purposes. That means that all of the tax revenue that goes to the Utah Transit Authority (UTA), Redevelopment Agencies (RDA`s), and other entities will now be on the County`s books. Although this directive by the Auditor raises Salt Lake County`s budget a great deal, the county won`t see any of the money, because we pass it through directly to other agencies.

Total pass-through dollars: $210,092,453