Fiscal Highlights - June 2015

It Looks Like the Gas Price Decrease is Boosting Consumption - Thomas E. Young ( PDF)

In June 2014, the price of oil started to drop.  The price continued to drop throughout the remainder of 2014, bottoming in January 2015 at about $44 per barrel (West Texas Intermediate oil price).  Since January, the price of oil has recovered somewhat, but still far away from where it was in the summer of 2014.  Shortly after the drop in the price of oil, the price of gas followed suit (with a lag). 
How did consumers and businesses respond to the drop in the price of gas and diesel?
The first figure below represents the gasoline tax experience (lagged two months to make the revenue consistent with the price of oil), and the second provides the trends on special fuel tax (mostly diesel).  The black lines represent the changing trends in the 365-day moving sum of the respective revenue sources.
Overall, this time around, consumers and businesses responded to the drop in the price of oil by buying more gasoline and diesel. This is in contrast to the retail sales arena, where it doesn't appear that consumers increased spending due to the oil price drop.


June 2015 Content ( PDF)

Higher Education Enrollment Projections - Spencer C. Pratt
The Utah State Board of Regents recently adopted enrollment projections for the eight colleges and ...
Implementation Funding for S.B. 54 (2014 General Session) - Clare Tobin Lence
When S.B. 54, Elections Amendments, passed during the 2014 General Session, the fiscal note ...
It Looks Like the Gas Price Decrease is Boosting Consumption - Thomas E. Young
In June 2014, the price of oil started to drop.  The price continued to drop throughout the re...
Legislative Action May Reduce the Number of Statutorily Required Reports - Steven M. Allred
One of the directions given by legislative leadership to committee chairs this interim is to look a...
Public Lands Office Appropriations - Brian Wikle
The Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (PLPCO) has historically received the largest proportio...
Reactive versus Proactive Maintenance - Angela J. Oh
During June's Executive Appropriations Committee meeting, Shane Marshall, Deputy Director for the U...
Rent or Own? - Andrea Wilko
Homeownership rates are at all time lows for a variety of reasons, including stagnant incomes pus...
Social Services June 2015 Interim Meeting Overview - Stephen C. Jardine
The Social Services Appropriations Subcommittee held its first interim meeting for this year on Fri...
Update on This Is The Place Heritage Park - Ivan D. Djambov
This Is The Place Heritage Park was established in 1957 and was managed by the Division of Parks ...

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