Show UTAH FOUNDATION REPORTS Utah spent 3 4 billion for school construction since World War II Local school districts in Utah have spent more than three quarters of a billion dollars to build improve and equip the facilities needed to accommodate accommodate ac ac- ac te the increased number of children who have entered the public schools since the end of World War II This fact was brought out by Utah F Foundation the private research organization in their latest analysis of school building needs in Utah Despite these huge outlays Foundation analysts note that officials now now are faced with a anew anew anew new series of problems created by growing and shifting enrollments existing fire and structural safety defects rising construction costs large bonded indebtedness and debt service obligations along with the failure of some districts to modernize their school plants during the past period of accelerated accelerated ac ac- ac- ac school construction A 1975 SCHOOL survey determined that the total cost coat to remove all intolerable conditions in the Utah schools would amount to 1304 million Because of new construction and other changes a September September Sep Sep Sep- 1976 preliminary update of this study placed the I adjusted critical building needs at 1053 million The report shows that the adjusted critical needs in the Uintah School District amounted to Utah presently provides state aid to local school districts for school construction under two separate programs the continuing continuing continuing con con- school building program and the critical building aid program According to the Foundation report the continuing continuing continuing con con- program is designed to help districts meet their long- long range replacement needs while the critical program is geared to provide special assistance to districts with immediate or emergency needs The 1975 Utah Legislature directed that a correlated financing study be conducted with special instructions to prep prepare re a recommendation for equalizing state and local revenue for school district capital outlay and debt service ser ser- vice A special research team consisting of representatives from the Office of Legislative Research the Legislative Fiscal Analyst the State Board of Education and th the Utah Education Association was was designated to actually make the study TillS THIS RESEARCH team which submitted its report in November 1976 recommended that Utah adopt an equalization- equalization type state-aid state formula which would would- combine the continuing and the critical school building needs along with the debt service requirements into a single ongoing program In addition the team recommended recommended mended the creation of a revolving fund to allow some of the smaller districts to receive advance payments in order t to proceed with a scheduled building project Foundation analysts observe that the program recommended by the research team would cost the state approximately 12 million per year It is designed to to reduce the critical unmet needs at a rate of about 33 percent per per year by providing a supported state-supported capital outlay program approximately approximately ap ap- proximately equal to 15 percent of the present maintenance aid operations operations' program The Foundation report observes observes observeS ob ob- serveS serves th that t the suggested appropriation ap app of million for school aid is about two and a half times the average amount of state aid that has been made available for school building purposes during the past five years |