Majority of Granite school patrons support tax hike for building needs, poll shows

Majority of Granite school patrons support tax hike for building needs, poll shows

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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A majority of likely voters in the Granite School District would support a property tax increase to maintain, renovate and build new schools, a new public opinion poll shows, but most want to keep the tax increase to about a $200 hike on an average home.

The poll of 1,006 residents of the school district determined there is more support for raising property taxes to improve teacher salaries and teacher retention than the district's building needs, but a majority of those polled by Y2 Analytics said they would support property tax increases for both.

"Eleven percent are unwilling to consider any tax increase," Scott Riding, managing partner of the survey research firm, told members of the Granite School District Board of Education Tuesday evening.

The school board, meeting in a work session, took no formal position but the conversation indicated growing momentum to place the issue before voters later this year rather than wait until 2018 and to ask them to consider a hybrid approach - a 10-year bond, after which the district would maintain the tax revenue.

The amount of bond has not yet been determined and would come on top of an earlier announced plan to raise property taxes to fund across-the-board pay raises for teachers and school administrators through a board leeway, which does not require a public vote.

The school board is considering a $16 million tax increase to fund the raises, which is estimated to add about $91 annually in property tax on a home valued at $250,000.

The timing of the bond election is somewhat complicated by Our Schools Now, a proposed citizen initiative that as envisioned would increase income tax rates by seven-eighths of 1 percent. That would raise $750 million for education statewide.

If the Granite schools bond was on the ballot at the same time as the Our Schools Now initiative, "Our Schools Now will have minimal effect on Granite School District but Granite School District could hurt Our Schools Now within the Granite School District," Riding said, explaining the poll results.

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The poll had a margin of error of about 3 percent, he said.

As people responded to the survey, which was conducted by email, support for a means to raise revenue for school building projects grew as they became more acquainted with conditions in the district, Riding said.

Forty-four of the district's schools are more than 50 years old. Some even date back to the 1930s.

Ongoing facility reports by engineers indicate the older buildings require costly repairs and renovations, which can include replacing heating, cooling and lighting systems to major structural upgrades.

Sixteen of Granite District's elementary schools, four of its junior highs and the Brockbank campus of Cyprus High School each meet a threshold that 85 percent of the building needs repairs or renovation, according to the reports.

Beyond systems overhauls, many schools need significant security and seismic upgrades.

A districtwide campaign, The Future of Our Schools, has been reaching out to school communities and registered voters seeking input on possible scenarios to pay for needed new school construction and renovation.

Surveys of school community councils and other elected officials within the district's boundaries indicate strong support for the "hybrid" option over a series of bonds or a single tax increase.

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The board directed administrators to prepare three different options for its consideration in May, property tax increases for both teacher pay and building needs that would increase property taxes by $200, $225 and $250 on a home valued at $250,000.

Board member Karyn Winder said it will help voters if very specific information is made available to them such as names of schools that would be rebuilt or renovated.

Before serving on the board, she was a constituent who was urged to vote for the district's last bond issue "by PTA friends" who informed her bond proceeds would be used to rebuild Granger High School and air condition elementary schools in her area.

"I think the more specific you get, the more buy-in you get," Winder said.

The Y2 Analytics poll indicated strong support for a property tax increase in more affluent areas of the school district.

But the school district also includes significant numbers of students whose households qualify for free or reduced-price school lunch.

"We have to let the voters know we are sensitive to their circumstances," said Granite School District communications director Ben Horsley.

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Marjorie Cortez

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