Thanks in part to a sales tax increase just imposed by Salt Lake County, the Utah Transit Authority is proposing a big 12.7 percent increase in its operating budget next year — going from $403.1 million to $454.2 million. Fares will remain unchanged.
More than a quarter of the total budget will go to pay interest on its $2 billion debt — incurred in recent decades essentially as a mortgage to accelerate building its TRAX and FrontRunner rail systems.
Debt service is UTA’s single-largest expenditure in its spending plan, costing $119.1 million next year.