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Show Voters to decide on leeway tax Tuesday By MARC HADDOCK . rs m the Alpine School ' It will go to the polls Tuesday ! fjermine if they will add up to I l,wroiis to their current property I !!f0r education. ! p0iswillbeopenfrom7a.m. to 8 1 at consolidated voting districts ! community. (See map.) I ttie proposed voted leeway 1 s it will raise $2,465 million I LjJjo of that in matching funds ! 1 the state) next year for the four 1 jjjposes outlined in the special ! ion notice: I .Textbooks. 1 .Equipment and supplies. I .Maintenance of existing I Salaries for aides to assist ! fliers of exceptionally large I isses. 1 a positive vote will give the Alpine I I school District the right to add up to i ;our mills each year for the next 10 ' jears to be spent for these four purposes. lie cost to the owner of a home jssessed at a property value of 130,000 will be $38 a year, under the icposal. Ilie increase will amount to about fj per student per year added to funds already allocated for education. Tuesday's vote is the result of a 1 petition drive headed by Orem resident Ray Graham. Over 4,000 registered voters in the district lindanes signed the petition to force the school district to hold the special election. And while the issues in the election m clear cut, the leeway election s drawing a lot of comment from both supporters and detractors of Juproposal. Several local PTA organizations kaveendorsed the leeway, including a unanimous vote of support from the Alpine District Regional PTA Board. But several solitary voices opposing op-posing the election were joined Monday when the Utah Taxpayer's Association, a Salt Lake City-based organization, publicly opposed the tax increase. In a news release, UTA spokesman Howard Stephenson said a poll of UTA members in the Alpine School District boundaries showed: "Our membership is almost unanimously against the tax increase." in-crease." Proponents of the leeway tax point to the district's rank as lowest in expenditure per student of all 40 school districts in Utah - the state which spends the least on education per student. According to data from the State Office of Education, the district spent $1,887 per student last year --far --far below Daggett School District's high of $4,921 per student. Provo School District ranked 28th in the state with a per student expenditure of $2109. The increase of $70 per student will still place Alpine students behind Nebo District, which ranked 38th with a per student expenditure of $1,976. "This doesn't mean we are poor in quality, professionalism, dedication or parental involvement," said Alpine Supt. Clark Cox. "In fact, in these areas we're rich. But being poor financially still takes its toll on the quality of educational programs here in the district." Rose Mary Lindberg, regional PTA director, said the leeway is needed to solve real problems in the district. "There are specific financial considerations which simply can't be taken care of with present incomes in-comes - things like textbooks, classroom supplies and teacher aides," she said. Opponents to the proposal, however, argue the tax increase is not necessary and is poorly timed. "With the current economic slump, our members feel this is the worst possible time to be asking for a large tax increase," Stephenson said. Another factor, according to opponents, is an expected tax increase in-crease on the state level when the Utah Legislature meets this January to establish a budget for the coming fiscal year. Gov. Norman Bangerter has indicated in-dicated he will propose tax increases this year, in part to help fund Utah's beleaguered school districts. "This is expected to provide the largest one-year infusion of new tax dollars into Utah schools in history. Our members ask: 'Why should Alpine School District get two tax increases?' " Stephenson said. Stephenson pointed out that while the Alpine Districts ranks 40th out of 40 districts in the state in per student expenditures, it ranks 11th in property tax rate, with the owner of that $80,000 home paying $405 in property taxes for educations as opposed to the state average of $383 for the same home. "If the voted leeway is approved, the Alpine tax will jump to $443, or 16 percent more than the state average," Stephenson said. Proponents of the leeway tax claim the higher taxes are the result of the area's combination of large families and limited tax base - a tax base further eroded by the possible closure of one of the main sources of tax revenue, Geneva Steel. Support for the leeway would demonstrate public approval to sacrifice for education, according to Mrs. Lindberg. "Here in this area we have large families, and yet we demand a high quality education on one of the lowest per student expenditures in the country," she said. "It's time to show sincere commitment and provide public education with the funds needed to furnish the type of education we expect." Dr. Cox says the leeway will help, but it won't solve all the problems. . "The leeway will alleviate the situation (of low per pupil expenditures) ex-penditures) to some extent, but even that will not provide the type of education which students deserve and patrons want. The leeway funds are badly needed, but we also need to work towards a more comprehensive com-prehensive and equitable school finance base here in Utah," he said. The UTA is also taking issued with the Sept. 23 election date, claiming that it was engineered by the school district in lieu of placing the issue on the November general election ballot in a move to create a low voter turnout. However, the petition signed by school district residents required that the election be held before the end of this month. And both sides of the issue are calling for voters to turn out, although such general elections generally fail to generate much voter interest. "If there is only a 10 to 15 percent turnout at the polls, there is a good chance that the tax hike will be approved," Stephenson said, urging voters to turnout Tuesday. Dr. Richard Sudweeks, president of the Alpine Board of Education, also' urged voters to go to the polls Tuesday. Pleasant Grove City " ' ijL Valley View Elem. 1 y xk j jloLlLuI AAA tAif Grovecrest New Jr. I I Elem. High I I 100 East V( A nr i1 U'Hvx " - I ! I'." I Geneva Road Pleasant Grove and Cedar Hills have been divided into three con-solidated.voting con-solidated.voting districts for Tuesday's leeway election. Voters living in District 11 (see map) will vote at Grovecrest Elementary. Those in District 12 will vote at Manila Elementary. Residents in District 13 will vote at Valley View Elementary. All Lindon residents Will vote at Lindon Elementary. |