On 12-12-12, Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert rolled out his budget recommendations for 2014.
This year’s budget work was impacted by the dichotomy of having a healthy economy in Utah, one of the best in the nation, the governor said, juxtaposed against the uncertainty of what type of impacts may result from the fiscal cliff and the affordable health care act.
Gov. Herbert said as his team worked on the budget, the focus was strongly on growing the state’s economy. “Everything I do focuses on how does that help or hurt our economic opportunities,” he said.
The lion’s share of state monies goes into education, about 63 percent, approximately $3.4 billion. Monies go into a variety of education targets, including expanding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs both in the lower grade levels as well as post high-school education. The governor noted in his Wednesday’s telephone press conference for publications from rural areas of the state that he believes investing in education to be strategic, “putting that money where we get the best bang for the buck.” He noted that if the state is going to have economic expansion it will need an educated labor force. “This budget exemplifies this effort; we are going to try to make sure everything we do in the state is designed to optimize opportunity.”
Other highlights of the budget include funds for economic development initiatives, including business expansion and retention programs for rural communities. Also, the budget calls for the state to continue to promote Utah tourism and travel, as well as business marketing recruitment and outreach..
In other areas, particularly those of interest to the Uintah Basin, the governor noted that the Utah Department of Transportation is aware of the increase in truck traffic on U.S. Highway 40 and is looking at some band-aid solutions such as adding more passing lanes and more signage. Mayors and county commissioners try to prioritize transportation needs, working through UDOT to determine where to spend finite amounts of money, the governor said.
Other ongoing projects include looking to improve air quality and emissions. “We are spending a significant amount of money in a combined effort to study the air shed in the Basin because of the ozone problem,” the governor said.
For full details on the governor’s budget proposal, go to Budget Recommendations.
The Utah State Legislature will grapple with coming up with their own 2014 budget proposal when it convenes Jan. 28. Vernal Express
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Finance. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Crescent Point to buy Ute Energy for $784M
Here is a Reuters article looking at one of the oil and gas industry transactions in the Uintah Basin. New production technologies in the oil and gas industry have completely revitalized the nation’s energy fields, in the processes setting the stage for the Uintah Basin to be a more active energy area than ever before.
Crescent Point Energy Corp, Canada's No. 4 independent oil-exploration company, said on Thursday it will buy privately held oil and gas producer Ute Energy Upstream Holdings LLC for $784 million in cash to gain oil production in the Uinta basin in northern Utah.
The company said the acquisition, set to close at the end of the month, brings additional oil and gas production of 7,800 barrels of oil equivalent a day from proved and probable reserves of 55.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Crescent Point, which has focused primarily on producing oil from unconventional fields such as the Bakken shale-oil region of Saskatchewan, said its new Utah lands have the potential to boost production using multi-stage hydraulic fracturing on both vertical and horizontal wells.
The company said that adding Ute's production will raise its average output in 2012 to 97,000 barrels per day from its earlier estimate of 95,000 bpd. Reuters
Crescent Point Energy Corp, Canada's No. 4 independent oil-exploration company, said on Thursday it will buy privately held oil and gas producer Ute Energy Upstream Holdings LLC for $784 million in cash to gain oil production in the Uinta basin in northern Utah.
The company said the acquisition, set to close at the end of the month, brings additional oil and gas production of 7,800 barrels of oil equivalent a day from proved and probable reserves of 55.1 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Crescent Point, which has focused primarily on producing oil from unconventional fields such as the Bakken shale-oil region of Saskatchewan, said its new Utah lands have the potential to boost production using multi-stage hydraulic fracturing on both vertical and horizontal wells.
The company said that adding Ute's production will raise its average output in 2012 to 97,000 barrels per day from its earlier estimate of 95,000 bpd. Reuters
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Design work to begin on high school expansion
Uintah High School could be getting something of a facelift in the next year.
In a memo to Uintah School District board members, Randall Upton, business administrator for the district said to refine costs and determine exactly how the facility will look; the district needs to begin to move to the design phase. The broad plan calls for a 16-room addition to the high school to be in place by the start of the 2013 school year.
The district voted to allow the administration and MHTN, a Salt Lake City architecture firm, begin the design phase of the project. Upton noted that the beginning of the design phase does not commit the board to building the project – such approvals would come at a later date, he said.
MHTN architects would be working on a tight time frame. The district hopes to have the new wing at the high school ready for occupancy by August 2013. That would mean construction would need to start sometime in February, Upton said. Drawings need to be done by then to begin work.
Board members and students questioned the impact to students at the school while construction is ongoing. Upton said the project could be worked around to minimize impact to students.
Upton said the anticipated cost would be around $25 to $26 million. The numbers would be refined further as design work progresses.
The high school is the next targeted for expansion or renovation as the Uintah School District tries to keep pace with growing enrollment numbers. For 2011, Uintah School District was the fastest-growing district in the state, up 4.6 percent.
The school district is near completion of its 10-year project to remodel and expand all area elementary schools, Vernal Middle School and Uintah High School. Vernal Junior High School was remodeled before the 10-year plan was outlined seven years ago.
The addition of the wing at the high school is meant to accommodate a reconfiguration of the district, to try and ease crowding at the middle, junior and high schools. Elementary schools should be kept for kindergarten-through-fifth graders, while sixth, seventh and eighth grades would be split between the middle and junior high school. Ninth graders would go to the high school.
The option was seen as more immediate and cost-effective than the construction of another high school, which would require a bond election. The cost would be estimated at $50 to $60 million for construction, not counting the ongoing operation costs, Superintendent Mark Dockins told district members in March. Vernal Express
In a memo to Uintah School District board members, Randall Upton, business administrator for the district said to refine costs and determine exactly how the facility will look; the district needs to begin to move to the design phase. The broad plan calls for a 16-room addition to the high school to be in place by the start of the 2013 school year.
The district voted to allow the administration and MHTN, a Salt Lake City architecture firm, begin the design phase of the project. Upton noted that the beginning of the design phase does not commit the board to building the project – such approvals would come at a later date, he said.
MHTN architects would be working on a tight time frame. The district hopes to have the new wing at the high school ready for occupancy by August 2013. That would mean construction would need to start sometime in February, Upton said. Drawings need to be done by then to begin work.
Board members and students questioned the impact to students at the school while construction is ongoing. Upton said the project could be worked around to minimize impact to students.
Upton said the anticipated cost would be around $25 to $26 million. The numbers would be refined further as design work progresses.
The high school is the next targeted for expansion or renovation as the Uintah School District tries to keep pace with growing enrollment numbers. For 2011, Uintah School District was the fastest-growing district in the state, up 4.6 percent.
The school district is near completion of its 10-year project to remodel and expand all area elementary schools, Vernal Middle School and Uintah High School. Vernal Junior High School was remodeled before the 10-year plan was outlined seven years ago.
The addition of the wing at the high school is meant to accommodate a reconfiguration of the district, to try and ease crowding at the middle, junior and high schools. Elementary schools should be kept for kindergarten-through-fifth graders, while sixth, seventh and eighth grades would be split between the middle and junior high school. Ninth graders would go to the high school.
The option was seen as more immediate and cost-effective than the construction of another high school, which would require a bond election. The cost would be estimated at $50 to $60 million for construction, not counting the ongoing operation costs, Superintendent Mark Dockins told district members in March. Vernal Express
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