School districts upset over funding equalization bill

Mary Richards reporting Prepare for higher property taxes across Salt Lake County to pay for the Jordan School District's west-side growth. Several school districts say the governor should veto a school funding equalization bill they call unfair.

The bill says Granite, Salt Lake, Murray and the east-side Jordan districts should pool their money. Then it will be divided up among them to help out the west-side Jordan District.

Granite School District Assistant Superintendent Martin Bates says it's not fair, "This is taking from the poor and giving to the other poor," he said.

Bates says Granite will put in $14 million but only get $12.5 million back. "So we've just lost, out of our budgets, a million and a half dollars; and that money's being spent. That money's allocated. We have places for that money to go," he said.

Salt Lake and Murray will be hard hit, too. Bates says the only thing they can do now is raise property taxes.

Related topics