TAYLORSVILLE — Legislative proposals to equalize capital costs of school growth would not benefit the existing Granite School District, nor would they mitigate the tax burden created by a district split, Granite officials said.

"This is not an equalization," Granite Superintendent Stephen Ronnenkamp told the Taylorsville City Council during a presentation Wednesday night.

The problem with proposals being discussed by the Local Issues Task Force, Granite officials said, is that they only address growth, money needed for new school construction, while ignoring school districts' building-replacement needs and those areas with pockets of growth but no net enrollment increase.

Under the proposals, taxpayers in the existing Granite School District would contribute about $13.7 million into the statewide school facility funding program but would not receive any of that money because of a lack of net growth in the district in the past three years, district officials said.

If the Granite School District is split, with Holladay, South Salt Lake and east-side areas of unincorporated Salt Lake County forming a new school district, taxpayers in the remaining Granite district would contribute $7.4 million but only receive up to $3.7 million because of growth.

"Most of the money would end up going to Davis, Utah, Tooele and Washington counties," said Mitch Robison, district budget director. "It really doesn't address (funding) issues created by district division."

The findings presented Wednesday night resulted from Granite officials' analysis of a feasibility study conducted for east-side cities proposing to split from the district.

The district's overall conclusion is that a division is feasible but not without significant impact.

"What we've learned through all of this is anything can be feasible, but there's a cost to that," Ronnenkamp said.

According to the district findings, a Granite division would require increased capital taxes for enrollment growth and building needs in the remaining district.

District officials also concluded that the tax base of both districts would be insufficient to maintain current operations of the schools within the statutory limits placed on property tax rates for operating funds. That likely would necessitate increased class sizes and a reduction in student services and opportunities.

The Taylorsville City Council expressed its hope — and even some confidence — that the Salt Lake County Council will decide not to approve the proposed split from the Granite district, allowing more time for concerns to be addressed.

Just in case that doesn't happen, the City Council approved the allocation of up to $15,000 to take part in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state law that allows cities to form new school districts without a vote of everyone impacted by the change.

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