he Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has release its annual report on the fiscal health of the states. Utah comes out No. 8 in the study called “Ranking the States by Fiscal Condition.”
The study’s authors, Eileen Norcross and Olivia Gonzalez, analyzed 10 years of Utah’s audited financial records to come to their conclusions, including an analysis of how well the state has recovered since the Great Recession.
The rankings are based on state solvency in five separate categories. The authors found that Utah has between 1.61 and 3.75 times the cash needed to cover short-term obligations. Also reported was that state revenues exceed expenses by 8 percent, with an improving net position of $291 per capita.
Utah’s long-term liabilities are lower than the national average, at 15 percent of total assets, or $1,555 per capita. Total unfunded pension liabilities that are guaranteed to be paid are $45.04 billion, or 36 percent of state personal income. Other post-employment benefit obligations are $180 million or less than 1 percent of state personal income, the study found.