SALT LAKE CITY -- Truck sales in the Top of Utah are indicating a better economic future for the area.
Truck sales were better in January 2012 than in January 2011, said Russ Layton, general manager of Tony Divino Toyota in Riverdale.
He expects those numbers to improve throughout this year.
The tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011 slowed production of Toyota trucks and cars, but "our inventory is back up and we're very positive about the future," Layton said.
The tsunami did not slow the sales of trucks in 2011.
Also, the increase in home sales this year, especially the construction of new ones, is sending customers in search of new trucks, Layton said.
"Many of our truck customers are in construction," he said.
Rich Beeman, sales manager with Westland Ford in Ogden, said truck sales at his dealership so far this year are "a little better than last year."
Utahns are expected to buy about 87,000 new trucks and automobiles compared with 69,000 in 2010, according to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget economic outlook 2012 report.
With an increase in truck and auto sales, Utah could see an increase in sales tax revenue, which goes to the state's general fund.
The report is just one of the tools legislators and their staff use to crunch out the projected revenue numbers for the upcoming fiscal year.
The report also includes a projected 2.7 percent increase in employment in most areas, with unemployment expected to be about 6.7 percent for 2012, down almost 1 percentage point from 2011.
The state income tax is specifically used to fund public education, while the state's general fund is allocated to fund transportation, buildings and state government agencies.
Sales tax generated about $1.6 billion in general fund revenues for the 2011 fiscal year, according to a report by the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.
And revenue from sales taxes for 2012 are expected to be a bit more.
But legislators are not counting any dollars before they are received.
Sen. Lyle W. Hillyard, R-Logan, is the executive appropriations co-chairman. He said Friday that even though the appropriations committee hopes 2012 will bring in extra revenues for the state, members still have to have a balanced budget for the year.
The state's projected revenues for 2012 are expected to be announced Tuesday, he said.
Legislators will budget first for the growth in public education and Medicaid, then spend the next two weeks working on numbers for other areas, Hillyard said.
He hopes the legislative staff and the appropriations committee will have the budget done by March 2 in order to give legislators time to review it before the session's last day, March 8.
Appropriation committee member Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace, said, "We're cautiously optimistic" about the revenue numbers coming out.
Even though it appears Utah's economy is improving, he said, "we're just barely turning the corner."
Dee said one of the reasons Utah's economy is starting to improve is that lawmakers have refused to raise taxes.
"There's not going to be a lot of money to go around, but it is better than what it has been," he said.
Utah's economy took a nosedive in 2008, and legislators have had to cut funds for many programs since then.
Comments