The Utah Taxpayers Association has a position of “oppose” on the proposed $730 million Salt Lake City School District bond. After meeting with representatives from the school district, reviewing the plans, and comparing the projects with similar projects in other school districts in the state, it is our conclusion that the bond is not in the best interests of taxpayers.
When compared to similarly-sized high school construction projects*, the proposed Salt Lake City School District projects are much more expensive, even when accounting for high construction inflation rates.
The $80 million portion of the bond earmarked for energy conservation and sustainability projects is to fulfill a mandate that was voluntarily adopted by the school board and, while it undoubtedly has health and environmental benefits and will likely provide a good return on investment, it could be budgeted for from the General Fund over a longer period of time.
The proposed athletic field house at East High School is not in response to community requests or demands for the facility but is intended to maintain equity in facilities. It is a non-urgent project and could be deferred to a later date.
While we understand the need for new high schools and would support a more modest bond proposal to fund those projects, the high projected costs of the schools and the additional elements to the bond make this proposal more burdensome to taxpayers than is reasonable for us to support.
*See the comparison below between the proposed SLC School District bond high school reconstruction projects and similar projects undertaken in Granite School District. Inflation figures from RLB Intelligence, estimate the TPI in neighboring cities (Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles) from November 2020 to August 2024 to average at about 26.35%.
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Salt Lake City School District (Bond Awaiting Approval 2024) |
Granite School District (Bond Approved 2017) |
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Highland High School
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Skyline High School
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West High School
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Cyprus High School
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