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By Lyle Hillyard
Utah State Senator, District 25

I was pleased to be appointed to the special task force to look at equalization of the funding for the school districts. I have worked on this issue for many years because of its impact, especially on the Cache School Districts where there are a growing number of children but the property tax base is so low because of the lack of business properties in the district. Also, much of the land is covered by green belt. By using property tax to equalize, it would have adversely affected Salt Lake County, which had more votes than the rural areas where the need was the greatest. We have helped address that problem with special funds (now two) that are given to school districts based on special formulas to help the neediest with capital need pressures.

I was opposed to the recent proposal that precipitated a special session. First, we were acting too fast without adequate input from the impacted districts. No matter how smart a plan is, it is always better to have input and buy in from the locals if you want their support with adjustments that inevitably come.

Second, while I favor equalization, I oppose using the current property tax. We have worked very hard to remove the State from the property tax revenues and let the districts who are elected and know their population handle that challenge. The “switch” proposed would have caused significant property tax increases in several of the districts. The districts that were in a position to receive this switched money would have been forced to lower their property tax.

Third, I did not feel comfortable with the way the equalization was being proposed. We do not just grant the WPU based on headcount. We have about 650,000 WPU for about 520,000 students because of the extra funding we give handicapped and at-risk students. Many of the Capital needs projects are not just buildings but computers for the at-risk students, who may not have computers at home. We need to allocate this equalization so as to make sure that we treat students fairly for their needs.

There are concerns that the current two funds to help needy districts with Capital needs must be adjusted to be fair. I know how hard “fair” is to accomplish. Capital needs are easy to claim and to justify unless we have to go back to the property tax payer and get their approval. They can be very cautious about what is said about need and force even the elected school board members to reconsider what they think needs are.

It should be challenging and interesting. We plan on having a recommendation for the upcoming session. I hope we find out that there is not more cake than frosting so that when the numbers are placed on the program, we can cover it.

1 Comments:

 Tim said...

All of these struggles will be futile unless we change from the arbitrary funding mechanism we currently have to a funding system based on the ADEQUATE educational needs of each child. Oh well, have fun anyway as you make the current system more convoluted and ridiculous.

9/06/2007 7:30 AM  

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