With state revenue continuing to spiral downward, Governor John Huntsman has proposed a $10.6 billion budget for fiscal year 2010 — about $1 billion less than the 2009 budget. Included in the budget are a number of cuts and proposals that could impact Tooele County both negatively and positively.

The proposed budget calls for cuts of up to 4 percent in education, which was “held harmless” in a run of cuts made to balance the 2009 budget. Other department budgets will be cut by 7 percent. The governor will also tap the state’s rainy day fund for $124.7 million to reduce the impact of the spending cuts.

Education officials across the state are holding their breath to see how much money they’ll be given to work with over the next two years. Tooele School District Superintendent Terry Linares remains optimistic however.

“All the superintendents throughout the state met with Christine Kearl, the governor’s education director,” said Linares. “The governor promised to continue to hold education harmless through the 2009 budget, and to continue to fund enrollment growth.”

The governor’s proposed 2010 budget does fully fund projected public school enrollment growth, and he has recommended current classroom size and teacher compensation be maintained.

“We have to wait and see what the legislature does with the budget, and then what the State Office of Education does with the cuts,” Linares said. “There will be cuts, but exactly what programs and how much have not been determined. There has been talk of cutting remediation funding for the UBSCT test, perhaps cuts in the Carson Smith special needs fund, and cutting some of the programs that were added just last year, like the performance-based bonus for employees and extra days of pay for special education teachers.”

Linares said the district is also making cuts of its own.

“We have already implemented some cost-saving measures,” she said. “We are reducing travel expenses, cutting energy costs, and tightening up on transportation where possible.”

The governor’s budget proposal also includes an economic stimulus program for Utah. One component of that would be raising vehicle registration fees and using the money to help bond for road construction projects. Earlier this year, the state put $3.9 billion in road projects on hold because of declining revenues. The funds generated by the fee increase would enable many of these projects to go forward, helping to create or maintain construction jobs while improving the state’s infrastructure.

“Bonding for road construction benefits the entire economy as construction work creates jobs, and more jobs create additional revenue for the state,” said Rep. Jim Gowans, D-Tooele. “However, at some point you have to weigh that against the amount of long-term debt the state incurs.”

The governor also wants to commit $5 million to a program to make credit available to qualified home buyers. That move could help to galvanize Tooele County’s real estate market, which has taken a downward turn through 2008.

“We will have to see how the details play out in the governor’s proposal and what the legislature does with it,” said Chris Sloan, president of the Utah Association of Realtors and a Realtor with Group 1 Real Estate in Tooele. “It looks great because one-third of our economy statewide is based on home construction and real estate. The governor’s ‘kick start’ program, as he calls it, will keep a lot of people in jobs.”

Vince Lafferty, executive director of the USU Tooele Regional Campus, does not believe the cutbacks will affect the Tooele campus.

“We will have to watch our expenses, but the majority of our plans — hiring new faculty and the campus expansion — will go forward, Lafferty said.

Gowans does not believe Tooele County needs to be concerned about the state’s commitment to ongoing education programs in the county. The USU expansion should continue and the Utah Applied Technology Campus will remain open in Tooele, although the governor’s budget does not show a lot of detail on expenses, Gowans said.

“The legislature will have to take a close look at the governor’s budget,” said Gowans. “We will have a lot of work to do come January.”

Tim Gillie: tgillie@tooeletranscript.com