Equalization for school districts

"This is just critical for us, and we would appreciate our legislators following through on the promises that were made," Newton said. "The leadership all indicated they would move forward with this and make equalization happen so we're not hung out to dry. They said, 'Trust us on this.' The thing that was put out there was, 'We'll take care of you, just trust us and we'll move forward.' That's what we're relying on."

The legislative Equalization Task Force was given the job of working out a plan for equalization and determining how new money will be distributed and where the money will be collected from. It has met six times since September.

Other equalization bills will most likely be heard next legislative session, but task force members opted to get behind Eastman's bill, which leaders said has a good chance of getting through.

But leaders said fine-tuning equalization legislation is going to take some time.

Herriman Mayor Lynn Crane said he is anxious to resolve equalization issues but worries about the Legislature hurrying to solve the problem in a certain time frame and neglecting major issues.

"It is my opinion that trying to put together an equalization package ... that is going to stand the test of time in one legislative session is virtually impossible," Crane said. "If they do pass a bill, there will be questions or issues that should have been addressed that will be overlooked in our anxiousness to get something done. This is a big issue that impacts everyone in the state, and I would think that it's worth a dialogue for a couple of years before we begin to finalize the details of legislation that is going to have such a tremendous impact."

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