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Show "District mnills leeway By GIN A CALDWELL and MARC HADDOCK The Alpine School District is overburdened with students and underburdened with money to pay for a quality education, according to district officials. And in order to overcome this difference, the district is looking at the possibility of a voted leeway to increase funding on the district level. If the funding isn't increased, according to Acting Superintendent Gary Keetch, it will mean that services will be cut by the 1984-85 school year. "We were able to balance the budget this year," Keetch said, but it will be more difficult to do that next year unless more funds are found. As a result, Keetch said, if district revenues aren't increased there will be a cutting back of basic services, rather than additional programs being called for as a result of a recent national study on American education. And while there are still a lot of questions about how much money will be needed, and what programs will be expanded or added, district officials are certain that funds will have to be increased. And they are getting support from groups outside of the school administration. There are several reasons supporters sup-porters of a voted leeway say the measure is necessary. "There is a high percentage of children per household in this district," said Eileen Peterson, Chairperson of the Alpine District Public Involvement Council. That is borne out by the Alpine District new clerk-treasurer, who points to statistics that show 35.6 per thousand birth rate for Utah County compared to 28.4 per thousand for the state as a whole and 15.8 per thousand for the nation. "But income per household is smaller in relationship to other areas," Lloyd said. That puts an added burden on local homeowners when measures like a voted leeway are discussed since if the leeway is approved, it will raise property taxes. Other problems, according to Lloyd, include a higher student per teacher ratio than other districts in the state, 26.9 students per teacher in grades kindergarten through 6. The district has also been teaching more students with fewer dollars per student than any other district in the state. And teachers in the Alpine District are starting to demand more to educate those students. Lloyd said teacher salaries in the district are comparable to other districts in Utah, but when the added number of students are taken into account, the salaries really aren't adequate. Add to those conrerns the increasing in-creasing demand for new and expanded ex-panded programs like computer See Leeway on age u Leeway (Continued from page 1) literacy classes, and supporters of a voted leeway say the district will not be able to educate children in the schools adequately unless more revenues are dedicated to education. "We have looked at several different dif-ferent alternatives to increase revenues in the district, "Mrs. Peterson said. A voted leeway appears ap-pears to be the best alternative. In a resolution presented to the Alpine Board of Education recently, the District Public Involvement Council encouraged the the Board to take whatever steps seem necessary-or necessary-or appropriate to increase revenues for the School District from all available sources, and that such funds continue to be used in a judicious and efficient manner. The resolution went on to say that the council members would help carry the message of the need for more funding to the schools. The leeway is the method Utah's school finance law allows local school districts to boost the level of their total school programs beyond that provided by the basic program. It must be approved by voters of the district in a special election. State law mandates that a 23.25 mill levy go to all school districts in the state. Local districts are then permited to add up to 10 mills to that, if local voters approve. Once the leeway is approved, the local board may set a levy each year not to exceed the amount authorized by the election. Several surrounding school districts have adopted the voted leeway. Their 1982-83 levy limits are: Salt Lake, 9 mills; Granite, 7 mills; Murray, 6.93 mills; Jordan, 5 mills; and Provo, 1.39 mills. A voted leeway provides a district with flexibility and more autonomy in adding to their basic education, according to the Utah School Finance Reference Manual put out by the Utah State Office of Education. Since a public vote on the leeway must take place before the December before the school year, a leeway will not be an option for Alpine School District until school year 1984-85. But the Alpine District is starting to discuss the possibility now with a report on the progress of a leeway proposal planned for last night's school board meeting. Lloyd said the district still is undecided about how much taxing authority would be asked for if a leeway election is held, but he did have some figures about how much could be raised. A two mill increase voted by the residents of the Alpine District would bring an addition $1.2 million. Most of that would come from residents, although the state would pay over a third of that. Based on current taxing policies, an increase of a mill on property taxes would mean about $10.50 per year for the owner of a $70,000 home. The owner of a $100,000 home would pay $15 per mill increase. For each mill the district would raise $348,000, not including the state's participation. |