The Budget Development Office constructs and monitors the district’s annual budget under the direction of the Superintendent and the Board of Education.
Annual Budget
Granite School District Budget – 2025-26 (PDF)
2025-26 Granite School District Budget Highlights (PDF)
Property Taxes
Property taxes are levied to provide for the operating, capital, and debt service needs of the District and are crucial in helping to provide quality educational opportunities to students.
All District property tax revenues are budgeted and accounted for – see the link to the annual District budget for 2025-26 above. The proposed District budget is a responsible, balanced financial plan designed to provide students with a high quality education within the limits of the available resources. The accounts and the business practices of the district are subject to audits on an on-going basis. The district has established sound financial policies and practices to ensure that taxpayer funds are expended appropriately and in compliance with all laws and regulations.
FY 2025-26 Budget Disruptions
On September 17, 2025, the Utah State Tax Commission notified the Granite School District Board of Education that the property tax rate approved by the board during the August 5th, 2025 truth-in-taxation hearing would not be certified. Instead, the final property tax rate was set at the original certified tax rate from the Salt Lake County auditor that did not include the planned increases in the board local levy and capital local levy. These increases were budgeted to generate $14.57 million in the General Fund and $3.23 million in the Capital Outlay Fund in 2025-26.
The District is responding to these budget challenges in 2025-26 by doing everything possible to make only necessary expenditures, including a soft hiring freeze for all non-classroom positions, restrictions on non-student travel, and other adjustments to reduce overall expenditures in 2025-26. Ultimately, the District will be required to go through the same Truth-in-Taxation process in the next budget cycle in order to recover the revenues lost this school year.
Information regarding the budget challenges and options for budget reductions to respond to these challenges were presented in the November 18, 2025 board meeting. Superintendent Horsley also provided an update on the 2025-26 budget in a Superintendent Snapshot video.
Granite School District remains committed to providing a quality education to all of its students while seeking for ways to balance its budget given these challenging circumstances.
Federal Funding Challenges
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” was recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. It is set to drastically change federal funding to Granite School District beginning in future fiscal years (2026-27 and beyond). Here is a summary of those changes:
Granite is monitoring these changes and will work to develop funding strategies in future fiscal years to offset the impacts of these losses. The following story by Fox 13 News highlights this issue from the perspective of another school district in Utah: Dodging one bullet, Utah schools look ahead to possible funding cuts next year
Property Tax Rates
The following chart shows the tax levies set by the District each year along with final rates for the 2025-26 year.
| Tax Levy | Authorization | Use of Funds | 2025-26 Estimated Rate | Max by Law |
| State Basic | 53F-2-301 | Maintenance & Operations | 0.001379 | Set by Legislature |
| Voted Local | 53F-2-601 | Maintenance & Operations | 0.000707 | 0.001600 |
| Board Local | 53F-2-602 | Maintenance & Operations | 0.001514 | 0.002500 |
| Capital Outlay | 53F-8-401 | Capital Outlay | 0.001484 | 0.003000 |
| Debt Service | 51-5-4 | Debt Service | 0.000634 | Sufficient |
The rate for the State Basic School Levy is set each year by the State Legislature in the legislative session held between January and March. Granite School District has no control over this property tax rate and must levy the tax in order to receive Minimum Basic School Program funding from the State each year. All revenues received from the Basic School Levy result in less state funding to the District, as a the State contribution to the Basic School Program is reduced by funds received through this property tax.
The 2025 property tax bill for a home valued at $565,200 (the average home value in the District) is estimated at:
- State Basic School Levy: $429
- Granite School District (all other levies): $1,349
Maintenance & Operations
The property taxes levied for District maintenance and operations are used to pay for salaries and benefits of District employees, including teachers, principals, paraprofessionals, custodians, and others who provide instructional and other support services in schools.
Capital Outlay & Debt Service
Revenues from the Capital Local Levy are tracked in the Capital Outlay Fund of the District, where they are used for acquiring and improving sites, constructing and remodeling facilities, and procuring equipment necessary for providing educational programs for all students within the District.
Revenues from the Debt Service Levy are used solely for the payment of general obligation bond principal and interest. The funds collected and payments made are tracked separately from all other District funds in the Debt Service Fund.
Employee Resources
- Accounting/Finance Knowledgebase – Budgeting Page
- Contains links to:
- Benefits Calculator
- Budget Transfer/Journal Entry request forms
- Planned Spending program
- Login using your normal District issued Active Directory login (the username/password used to login to your computer)
- Contains links to:
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