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Show Vernal Expre Wednesday. August 23, 2000 5 Figure A State Revenue as a Percent of the Minimun School Program by District Fiscal Year 1998-99 PIUTE TINTIC SAN JUAN NO SANPETE WAYNE CACHE SO SANPETE "OUCHESNE WEBER NEBO -UINTAH BOX ELDER TOOELE GARFIELD ALPINE SEVIER NO SUMMIT JUAB CARBON DAVIS MORGAN OGDEN KANE RICH PROVO LOGAN IRON STATE AVG JORDAN OAGGETT WASHINGTON GRAND GRANITE WASATCH BEAVER EMERY MURRAY MILLARD SALT LAKE SO SUMMIT PARK CITY 0 10 20 30 40 50 eo 70 80 90 100 Percent State Support for MSP Source: Utah State Office of Education. This graph shows the fiscal year 1 998 -1 999 State Revenue as a percent of the Minimun School Program by school district Stiatie imiDiniiiirsniiLairsn) pcogirainrD helps small! schools "Over the last six years, the state of Utah has significantly increased the state's Minimum School Program (MSP)," stated Michael Christenscn, executive director of Utah Foundation, a private, public policy research organization. The NSP is the chief operating fund for Utah's public education system. "This shift is the result of three things: a significant property tax cut by the legislature in 1994. Utah's Truth in Taxation law, and a strong Utah economy." Christensen said. After coming out of a recession in the mid-1980s, Utah's economy has been one of the best in the nation. "The strong economy spawns in-migration in-migration and a rapidly growing population," stated Christensen, "Which in turn pushes up property values. As property values increase, Utah's truth in Taxation law dictates that property tax rates on existing properties must go down." The decline in the rates slows the growth in property tax revenues. This slower growth in property taxes to fund education. As school budgets increase each year, the state-mandated property tax becomes less and less able to keep up. "State law guarantees a certain level of funding for all schools through the Basic School Program (BSP). The level is set by the legislature legis-lature each year through a student count called the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU). The funding for the BSP comes from a state-mandated property tax and the state Uniform School Fund (USF). (In Fiscal Year 1998-99 the Uniform School Fund consisted of revenue from the following: fol-lowing: individual income tax, 75.9; corporate income tax, 10.0; federal grants. 11.1 percent, per-cent, other 3.0 percent). When the state mandated property tax falls short of the amount guaranteed per WPU by the legislature, the USF must make up the difference. This is how the state equalizes school funding among the state's 40 school districts," Christensen said. The Utah Foundation report points out that, "In 1992, the state-mandated state-mandated property tax stood at 0.004275. by 1999 it had fallen to 0.001840. In school year 1992-93, the state mandated school levy raised $237 million, which accounted account-ed for 25.0 percent of the Minimum School Program. By school year 1998-99, the state mandated property proper-ty tax produced, $177 million, only 17.3 percent of the Minimum School Program." The decline in these rates is the result of Truth in Taxation and a slate legislative reduction of the tax in 1994. "This decline in revenue from the state-mandated property . tax requires the USF to pick up an increasingly larger share of the education edu-cation funding pie. Fortunately, Utah's strong economy has allowed individual income tax dollars to surge upward, providing the necessary neces-sary funds for the schools without tax rate increases. With this decline in revenue from the state-mandated levy, the state's share of the minimum mini-mum School Program has grown from $886 million to $1.7 billion, or from 75.0 to 82.7," stated Christensen. One of the significant impacts is that this shift of support for schools from the local districts to the state, is that there is a corresponding shift of resources from the Wasatch Front to rural parts of the state. This shift happens because the main source of revenue for the USF is the individual income tax. As the USF has paid for more and more of the Minimum School Program, so has the individual income tax. most of which is generated around the Wasatch Front. The report points out, "The legislature is often criticized criti-cized for not helping rural Utah receive more of Utah's public expenditures. The state's Minimum School Program is one of a significant signifi-cant shift of state resources (from the individual income tax of the USF) to many rural areas. For example, the eight districts that receive the largest percent of their MSP funds from the state are small, rural districts." "The amount of the MSP funded by the state is as follows: Piute, 95.6; Tintic, 94.3 percent; San Juan,92.9 percent; North Sanpete 92 .5; Wayne, 91.2; Cache, 90.7; South Sanpete, 90.6; and Duchesne, 89.9. Three of these school districts have student enrollments enroll-ments of less than 5,000. By comparison, com-parison, five of the 10 districts that receive the least help from the state are districts located along the Wasatch Front." The report concludes that this shift in revenues is not only intentional inten-tional but justifiable and concludes, "The state decided long ago that all students, regardless of where they live, deserve a quality education. The Minimum School Program makes an excellent effort in equalizing equal-izing expenditures by providing higher levels of support for small, rural school districts that large urban districts. . J (T riwr The Uintah Youth Orchestra will hold their Twinkle graduation this week. Yoiottto Oirchesttira to faoid gradyattioini Aug. 25 The Uintah Youth Orchestra is announcing the Twinkle graduation of their age 7 and older beginning group on Friday, August 25th. 7 p.m., at Sl Paul's church. 226 West Main Street in Vernal. These children chil-dren began the program after the summer recruitment, which was held the end of June. They have been taking group lessons for about two and a half months and have now completed all of the Twinkles in book one of the Suzuki violin program. The Twinkle's consist of five different variations on the Twinkle Little Star theme and end with a grand finale of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, which will be accompanied by the advanced students stu-dents of the orchestra playing the harmony part. The children will receive their Twinkle Graduation Certificates and will then have a small reception after for all that would like to congratulate them. The Uintah Youth Orchestra is having their first annual Fall Recruitment program, which will also be held at St Paul's Parish House on Saturday. August 26th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., or by appointment. Anyone interested in learning, or having their children leam how to play a string instrument instru-ment are encouraged to come and learn more about the orchestra program. pro-gram. Interested persons 3 to adult can join the program by beginning group lessons which will be taught by Suzuki teachers, and teachers in training. Anyone who knows how to play an instrument and is interested inter-ested in joining the program may-audition may-audition for placement in orchestra based on ability level. A representa tive from Summcrhays Music Center in Murray will join us to fit new students with their instruments, which they may take home that night Instruction will be offered for cello, bass, viola, and violin. Students may choose to leam in a group environment or in private lessons. Registration for orchestra, theory classes, music history classes, class-es, fiddling and small ensembles will be taken at this time for new and current members of the orchestra. orches-tra. Those who arc interested in joining the program are encouraged to attend the Twinkle concert to see just how quick these students can pick-up on the art of music. For more information regarding the fall recruitment or Twinkle Graduation Concert, please contact Meritta Lainhart at 789-9121, or Ora Fay Oviatt at 789-6499. Mow to store fresh garden fruits and vegetables by Bill Varga, Utah State University Extension horticulturist Proper care at harvest and correct storage make it possible to enjoy your garden's bounty for weeks or even months into the winter. No single storage method is correct for all fruits and vegetables. Here are some tips for specific produce. Tomatoes should be picked just before the first killing frost. Pick those that are just turning slightly pink or those turning light green or slightly white. They need not be individually wrapped, but keep them in a single layer as it's easier to check for spoilage. Keep them at about 50 to 55 degrees. They will ripen at 70 degrees. They don't need to be put in sunlight to ripen and may sunburn in a window. win-dow. Green peppers that are firm, mature and the correct color can be kept for two to three weeks in perforated per-forated bags in a cool location. Onions should be left in the ground until there is a hard frost if the tops are still intact If the tops fall over on their own or dry up. the onion bulb should be harvested. They can be dug and left on top of the ground to cure for a few days and then put in a shady area until the tops and scales on the outside of the bulbs are dry. The most important impor-tant thing is good air circulation. Do not put onions in paper sacks or boxes. Once they are cured and dry. place them in mesh bags (or use old panty hose) so they will continue to have good circulation. Store them in a cool, dry location. Potatoes are best left on the vine in the soil. As long as the vines are green and growing keep potatoes pota-toes watered to increase your yield. Once the vines have died down you should leave the potatoes in the ganind for 10 to 14 days to allow the skins to cure so they w ill scuff less when they are dug. Remove loose soil and wash the potatoes if you wish. Make sure the potatoes are thoroughly dry before storing at 35 to 40 degrees. When using potatoes pota-toes from storage, bring them to room temperature for a week or so before using them. This will reverse the process of starches turning to sugar at the cooler temperatures. Pumpkins and winter squash should be left on the vine until ripened and cannot easily scratched. Leave an inch of stem to prevent rotting at the crown. Parsnips, carrots and beets can be stored right in the ground. Once the tops have frozen, mulch over the row to keep the ground from freezing so hard that you can't dig the vegetables. Label your rows so you can find what you want when snow covers the gaxmd. If you don't store these root vegetables in the garden, dig them before the ground freezes. Remove excess soil, cut off stems, and store in a pit or storage cellar. Beets w ill not keep as long as carrots. car-rots. Parsnips develop better flavor after several weeks in cold, moist conditions. Introducing our new 18-month m mhv r m m k. II APY j . V I -tit I VO1 U r L 1 a a- Term Deposit There's no outs and the bases are loaded. At the crack of the bat the ball comes screaming right at you. Now you have a choice to make... throw to first and get the out or throw to any base for a force out. It's called a Fielder's Choice and at Mountain America it can pay off big when it comes to saving money. 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