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Show Utah Spent 70 Million Dollars to Guild, Operate Schools in 1955-56 """"Utah spont nearly $70 million to operate m,l jKl publi, schools durnjff the iSHifi-fili school Tyr I'"1'" th. inivato non-profit tax ' Uu.l'.-ntlon. milro: to tlio IHnh Vouiuln-u'1 Vouiuln-u'1 -t rum's forty school 'i,mJlM -NHMuiod $-l.YH million '!is" t -it operations and $':;!.!) (or Z tal oull.v ' IW' for ounvnt operations pom""1"- lH,Uvoon u);vi-r: and while Ol'ital outlay ox- flmvso 2i-;. a,,K the uh'Tvumliition analysts point , .hit stflte 100111 "vvonuos ollt h.. support of tho public K, U iuuo.intod to 4.8'-;. of the fl?f, wrUu income of nil mdi-J, mdi-J, VtaH lt year. While " national comparisons are yet n S for the l!W5-f? school r he National Committee for v White House Conference on ffuoMU in IMS pointed out that hKl the nation in its support lJ ' ,',MiC education during the ? J school year. The White conference report showed ml puWic school revenue as a ,,tt of personal income was P I,, Utah, more than BO' iator than the average for the Mtion as a whole. The hitrh birth rate of World -,r II and the post war period "n0W a major factor in the ti-nJrin" ti-nJrin" of public schools, accord-Cloe accord-Cloe Foundation's statistical rflk!et School attendance Luehout the State last year was from that of the previous arandST-;;- above that of 1917-is 1917-is Nine of Utah's districts, howler how-ler experienced a decline in school attendance between 1947-1S 1947-1S and 1955-56. Utah Foundation's statistical compilation shows that the averse aver-se property tax levy (combined date and local 1 for school operations opera-tions was actully 2.6S mills (S2.6S Nr si 000 assessed valuation) lower in 1956 than it was in 1947. This decline in operating levies, however was more than offset by higher levies for capital outlay and debt sen-ice purposes. The average av-erage school levy for all purposes (operations, capital outlay and dabt sen-ice) increased 5.91 mills between 1947 and 1956. During the past ten years, Utah school districts have spent 594.5 million for school building construction con-struction and remodeling. This sum does not include capital outlay expenditures ex-penditures for equipment. Slightly more that three-fourths or $71 million of this amount was expended ex-pended during the past five years. Because of this accelerated building program carried out in Utah during the past few years, there has been a substantial increase in-crease in the bonded indebtedness of most local districts. At the end of the 1955-56 school year the combined net bonded debt of Utah's fortv school districts was $32.1 million. This compares with a net indebtedness of $9.1 million at the end of 1947-48. Only seven of Utah's school districts were completely free of debt at the close of the 1955-56 school year. |