A split of the Granite School District would make financial sense for the east-side cities and townships wanting to break away but would create a bleak situation for the west side, according to a study released today.
A feasibility study commissioned by Holladay, South Salt Lake and Salt Lake County shows that a smaller east-side school district would have more money per student than the existing Granite district and would not require a property-tax increase.
As for those that would be left behind on the west side, property taxes would be forced to skyrocket to manage the growth rate and new school construction.
The study, done by Salt Lake City-based Wikstrom Economic & Planning Consultants Inc., analyzed short- and long-term feasibility through 2020 of financial impacts for both the proposed new district and the remaining district. Granite School District officials were not involved in the study, a district spokesman said.
After several school closures and some near-closures last year, Holladay, South Salt Lake and the county began studying the idea of splitting from the massive Granite School District and forming their own smaller, east-side district.
The study is one of two that have been commissioned by elected leaders on the east side of Salt Lake County. Cottonwood Heights, Draper, Sandy, Alta, Midvale and the county also have approved their own study, which is set to be released May 1.
The Granite study will go through a string of presentations, beginning at Tuesday's Salt Lake County Council meeting. A series of public hearings also will be held, beginning May 17 at Holladay City Hall.
"No new school construction will be needed" for the proposed east-side district, according to the study. "Operations and capital needs of the new district can be funded with no need for a property tax increase and the potential for a property tax decrease."
The remaining Granite School District, which would consist of West Valley City, Taylorsville, Kearns, Magna and a small part of West Jordan, would not be feasible, "unless some form of financial mitigation can be identified," according to the study.
"There is no question that this will raise some challenging issues as to how to go forward, if we do go forward, and if so how can we do it fairly," Holladay City Councilman Lynn Pace said. "I don't know how to do that."
Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall wasn't aware that the study was complete when reached for comment Thursday, but he said he didn't need to see it to know that it's bad news for Taylorsville.
"There's nothing positive that can come out of this for the city of Taylorsville," Wall said.
The mayor blames the state Legislature for making it possible for cities to form smaller school districts. The law requires cities to do a feasibility study before constituents can vote on the issue.
"The Utah Legislature is failing in their responsibility to their constituents," Wall said. "Passing that bill was irresponsible. It was ill-conceived and didn't take into account how (west-side cities) would be affected."
Wall was a vocal opponent of SB30, which passed during the 2007 legislative session to fill holes in legislation passed in 2006. The Taylorsville mayor said he spoke against the bill at every turn, attending interim-committee and subcommittee meetings.
"They weren't interested in our issues," he said. "The east side didn't want to pay for our schools, and that's all (legislators) seemed to care about."
An amendment to SB30 calls for many of the unanswered questions about the formation of smaller school districts to be studied in the interim session.
Among those questions are whether all voters in the existing district boundaries should vote on a new district; what should happen with existing district property; and whether a district should be required to split once it reaches a certain size.
According to the Granite study, projected enrollment growth on the west side "will require new school construction that will result in substantial tax increases. Operations cannot be funded under existing statutory restrictions with the much-reduced tax base per student."
West-side enrollment makes up 75 percent of the Granite School District, but 47 percent of the taxes are collected on the east side.
"I'm very concerned because my role as the county mayor is to look out for citizens of both the east side and west side of the valley," Mayor Peter Corroon said. "People want more local control over schooling in their cities. It doesn't work in the Granite district by simply splitting it off into two separate districts."
Granite School District officials asked for a copy of the report but hadn't received one as of press time, spokesman Randy Ripplinger said.
"We'd love to see the study," Ripplinger said. "Why would they release this to mayors and reporters and not give it to the Granite School District? We'd like to be able to read it so we can make a response. It will be interesting to see how they rectify the discrepancies between east and west.
The study also found that:
Granite School District will need to build 23 new schools at an estimated $490 million by 2020.
The current taxable value per student in Granite is $291,884, which is higher than the state average. The new district's taxable value per student would be $557,562; the remaining district's value per student would be $205,074.
School property and assets are not divided evenly among the east and west sides, leaving the new district with a disproportionate share of school facilities compared with its expected enrollment.
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