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WEST JORDAN — The Jordan School District Board of Education voted 4-3 Tuesday night in favor of a tax raise that will increase teacher pay.
The decision was made after a "Truth in Taxation" hearing at West Jordan High School where members of the public and the board weighed in on the proposed increases.
While taxes paid to the district will still be a net decrease compared to the previous year, the decrease is lower than it would have been without the tax raise for teacher pay increases — a distinction that required the hearing. Instead of a tax decrease of $29, it ended up as a $5 net decrease with the approved $24 increase to go toward increased salaries.
"Around the end of the school year, the Board of Education made a formal compensation proposal that would have provided comparable pay increases for all three employee groups: licensed employees, education support professionals and administrators. This initial proposal could have been funded without a tax increase. In response to significant feedback from teachers and legislators, the Board put forward a new proposal that provided a larger pay increase for teachers. The proposed tax increase would fund higher teacher pay," said a post on the district's website.
Despite an overall decrease, some community and board members were still opposed.
"I'm absolutely for teachers getting a living wage and you know, cost of living increases, but I am against raising the taxes again," said Anna Kelsch. "There has to be another way to get around this."
Kelsch said that she was worried the decrease wouldn't be enough to make a difference for older adults on fixed incomes that are worried about losing their homes.
Board member Brian Barnett said that he's opposed to "any tax increase."
"Government entities face financial issues — that's a given," Barnett said. "But I think the lazy solution is to increase taxes. That's just the easiest thing to do. Real solutions require sacrifice, they require hard work, they require creativity and good ideas. That's the approach I would prefer to take."
Others spoke in support of the tax raise to increase teacher pay.
"The way that our tax code is written (and) the way that public education is funded, this is the only way for us to receive inflationary (pay) increase," board member Niki George said. "So that's something that I have to take very seriously. I believe that the thing that makes America different is that children have an opportunity here, regardless of the blessings or the poverty that they are born into. There is equal opportunity in education, and it's our responsibility as taxpayers, as a society, as a community, to safeguard that."
Mitchell Atencio, a South Jordan resident, also spoke in favor of the tax rate adjustment.
"This amounts to a change of less than $5 for the full year for me next year and I am so delighted to do that. I would encourage the board in the future to prioritize making these small changes and increases year-to-year as opposed to a large jump every five years," Atencio said. "Thank you for prioritizing our students and our teachers and our education support professionals, helping the people who you employ and are responsible for to be able to have ... the dignity of an appropriately compensated job."
Further information regarding the tax increase can be found here.
