RIVERTON — It's the junior prom all over again for Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth.
As a high school junior, a teenage Applegarth and his group of friends decided they would all go to the prom. Realizing he didn't have a suit and that he couldn't wait until the last minute to find one that fit his then-lanky 6-foot-4, 165-pound frame, he bought one early.
"Then all my friends backed out on me," Applegarth said. "I didn't wear that suit until my senior prom."
The Riverton mayor shared that story during Tuesday night's City Council meeting to describe his feelings about the faltering coalition of west-side cities that had been poised to challenge the constitutionality of a law that allows cities to break away from existing school districts and form smaller ones.
Applegarth contends that the new state law is unconstitutional because a city or group of cities can split from a school district without a vote of the entire district. And that, the mayor said, violates the 14th Amendment's guarantee of one man, one vote.
Feasibility studies for proposed splits indicate that Riverton and its fast-growing southwest Salt Lake County neighbors Herriman and Bluffdale would struggle financially to keep up with all of the new schools that will be needed over the next 10 to 15 years.
Significant property-tax increases would be needed for construction costs alone. Operating and maintaining the schools and attempting to provide the same quality of education and class options as the existing Jordan School District likely would require additional tax hikes, city leaders said.
Riverton is hoping to stop that domino effect with a legal challenge of the law, but elected leaders aren't sure the city can shoulder the financial burden of a lawsuit alone. Originally, a coalition of six west-side cities — Riverton, South Jordan, West Jordan, Herriman, Taylorsville and Bluffdale — had expressed interest in splitting costs of the legal challenge.
West Jordan drifted away from that group in recent months as it began exploring the idea of forming its own school district. The West Jordan City Council voted Tuesday night to put the split on the ballot in November.
Action by the state Legislature during a special session last week — taking the Salt Lake County Council's say on a Jordan split out of the equation and lowering the the minimum population required for a new school district from 65,000 to 50,000 — further fractured the west-side alliance.
"The Legislature kind of split our ranks," said Taylorsville Mayor Russ Wall.
Taylorsville had been one of the strongest supporters of a legal challenge, but a proposed split of Granite School District will not be on the ballot this year. Wall said that puts Taylorsville in a situation where city officials aren't sure whether the city has any standing in a potential lawsuit.
"We still believe that everyone should have the opportunity to vote on a school-district split," he said. "What we don't know is where we sit on a lawsuit."
South Jordan benefitted from the Legislature lowering the population requirement for new school districts and now has the ability to go out on its own if it chooses to do so. The City Council has approved the use of up to $15,000 for a lawsuit challenging the law, but it hasn't determined whether it will take part the lawsuit, said Chip Dawson, city spokesman.
Riverton officials said the city has only one known remaining ally in the lawsuit: Herriman. Bluffdale, which had expressed interest in joining the fight, has been noncommittal, as has West Valley City.
"We're holding off and looking at the pros and cons of a lawsuit," West Valley spokesman Aaron Crim said. "I expect (the City Council) will make a decision in the next week or two."
The Riverton City Council has not ruled out shouldering the full burden for the lawsuit, which city attorney Ryan Carter estimates at $75,000 and likely more than $100,000 if, as attorneys anticipate, the decision is appealed.
Riverton residents who attended a public hearing Tuesday about whether the city should fund a lawsuit mostly favored the idea, saying they'd rather pay higher taxes now in an attempt to stop a school district split that likely will result in steep increases for several years to come.
"I realize this is a lot of money, but I feel the taxes would make up for it," said resident Nikki Bown. "I hope we can move forward on the lawsuit."
The Riverton City Council opted to take no action Tuesday night, wanting first to get a clear picture of which cities are on board for the legal fight and how the costs will be split. The City Council expects to have that information and make a decision about the lawsuit in the next two weeks.
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