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District plans bond election with no tax increase |
The Granite School District Board of Education has voted to place a bond question before voters on the November 3 ballot. It will not result in any increase in taxes. If bonding is approved, the district would sell $256 million in general obligation bonds to air condition all remaining schools, build three schools and replace five existing school buildings.
The bond payments will be paid from the portion of existing capital outlay funds that, since 1996, have funded the facilities master plan. Capital outlay funds cannot be used for other purposes such as the day to day operations of the district or salaries.
Current economic conditions are favorable for bonding since construction and interest costs are very low. The district’s current pay-as-you-go strategy can no longer keep up with the needed facility improvements and construction.
The board also approved a project list associated with the bonding proposal, including air conditioning of 51 schools, replacement of Granger and Olympus High Schools and Hartvigsen School for the medically fragile plus Woodstock and Oakwood Elementary Schools. Proposed new schools to accommodate growth include an elementary school in Magna, another in West Valley City and a junior high school in the northwest quadrant of the district.
District officials provided information to the board about conditions of the district’s aging buildings, including seismic conditions, safety, compliance with the American Disabilities Act, learning environment, capability for supporting today’s technology and growth.
The board also evaluated input from a series of community meetings held last year at each high school and results of a Dan Jones survey. Both the survey and input from the meetings indicate that citizens were strongly in favor of air conditioning as well as replacing aging schools to improve the learning environment and building new schools where needed.
If you have an questions, please contact the Communications Office at 385-646-4529 or via email.