Stephenson: Idle Schools in Jordan District “Unacceptable”
08.14.2009 by Jeff Robinson
(KCPW News) Those who send their kids to school in the Jordan School District on the west side of Salt Lake County will soon see their property taxes go up 20 percent. But it could be far worse, if state lawmakers hadn’t passed an equalization bill taking millions of dollars from other, more property-rich school districts in the county and handing it over to Jordan. Now, a state lawmaker wants to make sure those millions are being put to good use. KCPW’s Jeff Robinson spoke with Senator Howard Stephenson about what his proposed legislation would do, and whether school equalization is a fair concept to begin with.
Stephenson’s new school equalization bill will be heard next Wednesday in the legislature’s Education Interim Committee at the Capitol.
As president of the taxpayers association, it is surprising to me how little Stephenson actually knows. He says Jordan District pays a huge sum of money in income taxes that is equalized (through the WPU) but that it receives little of it back. How can he even say that when the WPU is based on student population and Jordan District is a growing district. Since Jordan is continuously adding more students that means it is receiving more WPU (income tax) dollars each year.
Also, Stephenson *did* vote for the bill setting up the process to create a new school district. He voted for HB77 in 2006. And yes, that bill which Stephenson voted for and which became law, allows only part of the district to vote. According to HB77: “Creation of the new school district shall occur if a majority of the legal voters within the proposed new school district boundaries voting on the proposal vote in favor of the creation of the new district.”