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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
Viola Miller, CFO and Treasurer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Viola Miller, CFO and Treasurer |
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Brad Armstrong, Director of Budget & Financial Analysis |
TITLE:
title
TBA2023-08-01 Technical Budget Adjustment for Economic Impact Study
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Other Approval
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve TBA2023-08-01 to authorize a technical budget adjustment that will allocate $275,000 from the 2023 Operating Budget contingency to fund an economic impact study.
BACKGROUND:
The Board of Trustees adopted a new 2030 Strategic Plan in December 2022. One of the plan’s primary strategic goals is to generate critical economic return to the State of Utah, with the objective of having communities across the state recognize the economic value and positive return on investment that UTA provides.
DISCUSSION:
The American Public Transit Association (APTA) periodically conducts studies on the economic impact of transit nationwide. In 2020 they reported that every $1 invested in public transportation generates $5 in economic returns, that home values were 24% higher near public transportation, that every $10 million in capital and operating investment in public transportation yields over $30 million in increased business sales, and that every $1 billion invested in public transportation supports and creates approximately 50,000 jobs.
Although APTA’s study is helpful, UTA would like to better understand the economic impact of public transit in the Utah economy, and to establish a baseline economic impact in this first year of our strategic plan that can help inform our strategies for growth.
We are requesting a technical budget adjustment that authorizes the expenditure of $275,000 to fund this Utah-specific transit economic study to be conducted this fall and completed by the beginning of 2024. Once the budget authorization is approved, the Board will be presented with a separate agreement to amend the Joint Projects Master Agreement with Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC), Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG), and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to secure the specific services of analysts to perform this research.
ALTERNATIVES:
We could delay this study to 2024 or later and appropriate the funds for the study in a future year budget.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The estimated cost for this study is $275,000 and would be funded through contingency funds in the 2023 Operating Budget. If approved, the 2023 Operating Budget contingency of $1 million would be reduced to $725,000.
ATTACHMENTS:
TBA2023-08-01 Technical Budget Adjustment, Attachment A