The new Utah Transit Authority board passed a 2019 operations budget Wednesday that includes a big 13.3 percent spending increase — thanks in part to a sales tax hike just imposed by Salt Lake County, and direct contributions from that county and Salt Lake City to increase service in their areas.
The budget goes from $403.1 million to $456.8 million. Fares will remain unchanged.
More than a quarter of all money will go to pay interest on the agency’s $2 billion debt — incurred in recent decades essentially as a mortgage to accelerate building its TRAX and FrontRunner rail systems.