Because Brigham Young University does not pay taxes on its married student housing, Provo School District property taxpayers are forced to pick up a heavier burden for educating their children, says a patron who's been adding up the numbers.
Ray Alvord, who introduced himself at the July Board of Education meeting as somebody interested in education with no per-sonal ax to grind, said he feels Provo residents simply have a right to the facts."I discovered this quite by accident," said Alvord. "The truth is BYU pays nothing for property but sends students to the Provo city schools."
BYU public relations spokesman Brent Harker said given the magnitude of the support the university provides to Utah County, he finds Alvord's question akin to "straining at a gnat."
BYU is indirectly and directly responsible for bringing $200 million into Utah County, he said, based on figures gathered 10 years ago for an economic impact study, "and the economy is much different today."
The university employs almost 5,000 and enrolls between 3,500 and 4,000 students from Utah County families who all receive a 70 percent subsidy on their tuition, he said. "That represents many millions of dollars."
Harker said of 8,206 married BYU students, most live in Provo rental housing where landlords do pay a property tax assessment. He said there are "very, very few school-age children" from married-student families. "So we have a minimal impact on the Provo School District," he said.
Alvord said that in 1994, 120 students representing $300,000 in educational costs to the district were enrolled from BYU married-student families living in the Wyview Village housing. In 1995, the number was 177 and the projection for 1997-98 is between 225 and 230.
When BYU completes its renovation of Wyview Village, there will be more, said Alvord.
"If BYU student housing were taxed it would pay for 17 additional teachers at an entry-level salary," he said, "and 11 master's degree-level teachers."
Alvord based his figures on counting $2,575 as the minimum cost to educate a single student.
Lynn Smith, budget administrator for Provo School District, cautioned that Alvord's figure includes a hodgepodge of revenue sources and cannot be fairly used as an average and absolute cost per student. "In concept, he's right in terms of property tax," said Smith. "But it is not true that literally property taxpayers pick up the difference."
Alvord said the board could do several things to rectify the uneven tax burden and reclaim the money that could be "better spent" on educational improvements.
The board could initiate action to require a repeal of the tax-exempt status or propose BYU pay in-lieu fees on the number of students, seek voluntary support, inform Provo taxpayers of the sub-sidy or increase the tax rate on property taxpayers to make up the difference, said Alvord.
To pay taxes on the married student housing property would require a monumental shift for the LDS Church-owned university. BYU cannot pick and choose which elements it will pay taxes on, said Harker. "We're either a tax-exempt institution or we're not."
"This does impact their children," Alvord said of Provo district patrons. "I'm interested in education and in a win-win opportunity."
Alvord said the situation as it exists makes it economically difficult for the district to cover its costs when not all contribute to the support.
Smith said the district could never turn away students from BYU married student families.