Stimulus help for Utah

The final stimulus package has a variety of tax cuts and spending that different Utahns may find financially invigorating. Following are some highlights:

The White House estimates it will create or save 32,000 jobs in Utah.

The package may especially help create jobs for unemployed veterans or young people ages 16-25 who are students or who have not been regularly employed in the past six months. It allows businesses who hire them to claim a tax credit equal to 40 percent of the first $6,000 of wages paid to such employees.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office estimates the package will provide $213.5 million for Utah roads and bridges and $292.2 million total for Utah infrastructure projects.

The Utah Department of Transportation has approved 38 projects that it wants to complete with money from the stimulus and says it will create 6,000 jobs. They included replacing the Valley View Bridge in Washington County that was destroyed by flooding, four bridges along I-15 near Payson, and ramp and lane improvements on I-15 in southern Salt Lake County.

Another place some jobs may come is in completion of the Central Utah Project, designed to bring water from eastern Utah to the Wasatch Front. The package specifically makes up to $50 million available to complete its projects.

Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, says $750 million will go to national parks projects countrywide, and will help with repairs to such things as the Dinosaur National Monument Visitor Center, which has been closed for two years as unsafe. He said other park projects in Utah could include enlarging parking areas at Arches National Park, and repairing the visitor center roof at Natural Bridges National Monument.

The package will provide what the White House estimates is 890,000 Utahns with a refundable tax credit of up to $400 for working individuals and $800 for working families. It phases out for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes greater than $75,000 for individuals or $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

The bill gives a one-time payment of $250 to retirees, the disabled, and Supplemental Security Income recipients. It also gives $250 to certain government retirees who are not eligible for Social Security benefits.

It includes a new "American Opportunity" education tax credit for up to $2,500 of the cost of tuition and related expenses per person during the year. Pelosi estimates it will help 24,000 Utah students. It is phased out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $80,000 for individuals or $160,000 for couples filing jointly.