The Cache County School Board voted 4-3 to raise property taxes. If finalized in August, the tax on a $200,000 home in Cache County will increase by $47.19. For a $200,000 business property the tax would increase by $85.80. The district will use the money to fund the K-3 reading program, buy new busses, pay for new software, and maintain building roofs and other needs.

Boyd Pugmire, Cache County Republican Party Chair, addressed the school board last night before they discussed the increase. He wondered why the district didn’t use funds from the general fund reserve and from the 2003 bond funds. He said that raising taxes at this time, when people are losing their jobs and their homes, may not be the right time to do this.

At issue are several programs that need monies.

1. Busses. The district runs 120 busses and needs to be buying almost 7 busses a year to keep the program going. Recently they’ve been buying only two or three. They even purchased used busses from the Uinta district to save costs and have run those busses another 100,000 miles. The administration says they need to be buying more busses before they run into bigger problems as the fleet ages.
2. Facility maintenance. The district needs to replace roofs on several buildings as well as carpets and other furnishings.
3. Reading program. The state sponsored reading program has been very successful. In the past, the district used a portion of the IDEA special education funds from the federal government to pay for the district’s portion of the program. The rest of the program’s cost is paid for by the state.

Board Trustee Jonathan Jenkins asked why can’t they use bond and reserve fund monies.

Dale Hansen, Business Manager, said the district cannot use bond or reserve funds to pay for the reading program. It was only an exemption in the IDEA funding that allowed the district to use that money for the reading program. Now, the special education program needs all of the IDEA funds to continue serving the district.

The 2003 bond passed by voters was earmarked for new buildings, retroffiting existing buildings, and other building needs. The last bonds have been sold and the district has about $2.1 million. The hope was to identify a site for a third high school.

Jenkins motioned that they use IDEA monies to pay for the reading program and then fund special education using the reserve fund. He further added that they use the bond funds to pay for building maintenance and the new busses. He said that the board had leeway on using the bond funds for building needs and this is an appropriate use of the money. This way they would not have to raise taxes during difficult economic times for the residents of the county.

Board Trustee Tamara Grange said that the bond monies cannot be used for regular building maintenance or to buy busses. The money had been earmarked for specific projects and presented to the voters for that purpose. She also said that using reserve funds only solves the problem temporarily. These were ongoing costs that will need to be covered every year to keep the programs running.

Jenkins added that it is not his intent to cut any of these programs. He said that everyone on the board wants these programs to continue and they all value the teachers, staff and employees of the district. The proposed budget included funds for steps and lanes. This is about balancing the needs of the district and the people the district serves — especially those who are paying for these programs.

Grange argued that these programs are ongoing and need a solid source of funding. The bond money needs to be spent where it was originally earmarked for. And the reserve fund must be maintained at some level in case of an unforeseen emergency.

Jenkin’s motion to leave the tax rate alone failed 3 to 4 with Jonathon Jenkins, Garrick Hall and Bart Baird voting for the motion.

Grange’s motion to raise the tax rate to 0.006972 passed 4 to 3 with Tamara Grange, Brian Leishman, Allen Grunig and Richard Knight voting for the motion.

The district will hold a “Truth in Taxation” public hearing on August 4 before the tax can become final.

Upcoming bond

Next year the district is likely to need a bond to build new buildings. To that end, the citizen committee will be formed to investigate what the district buildings needs are and how to best fund the growth of the district. Cache County continues to add 500 to 600 students per year and they are already reaching capacity in many of their buildings. Hansen pointed out that 500 students is roughly an elementary school’s worth of growth each year.

Other business

• The board agreed on a schedule for board meetings for 2011-2012.
• They passed the final budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.