Palmer said the special session would address a bill that would authorize Garfield County to issue bonds needed for the correctional facility expansion.

Corrections spokesman Jack Ford said prison officials are behind on the construction schedule of a 288-bed housing unit at Gunnison, so there is a definite need for more bed space.

The special session call is expected to get the ball rolling in what had become a near stalemate in the movement to split the school districts.

East-side cities have voted to secede from the districts and form two of their own districts. The Salt Lake County Council, however, has yet to vote whether to put the split question on the ballot this November. Council members have worried about building needs on the west side and leaving those residents without enough tax base to cover growth.

The Legislature's Education Interim Committee and Local Issues Task Force this week embraced two bills to equalize part of the property tax for buildings to help tax-poor or growing districts build new schools and maintain existing ones. One bill would set up a statewide building aid fund, and the other bill would create a countywide fund. Both bills would raise some people's taxes and cut others.

The countywide option that the governor opted to have legislators debate could cost Salt Lake City School District a $10 million tax increase and give Jordan School District nearly $9 million more than the $17.6 million it would put into the pot.

Palmer said the House and Senate members had not yet reached a consensus on a statewide equalization proposal, and the governor thought the issue would merit more discussion and time than allotted in a one-day special session.

Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottonwood Heights, said lawmakers intend to look at the statewide option during the next general session of the Legislature.

"Statewide equalization will be our goal, but for now, we're focusing on the county," Walker said. "It's much simpler."

Walker credited the Salt Lake County Council for being the driving force in pushing lawmakers to reach a consensus on the equalization bills, so the governor could call a special session. The council members "wouldn't put this on the ballot without a special session," Walker said.

Now the County Council might end up voting before the special session but only with contingencies in place.

The Salt Lake County Council could vote on Tuesday to put the school-district-split questions on the ballot, contingent upon the Legislature's approval of the equalization bill the following day, County Council Chairman Mark Crockett said. If the County Council doesn't vote Tuesday, the council could meet in a special meeting of its own on Thursday to make a decision about the November ballot.

But House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said that if the County Council expects lawmakers to pass an equalization bill, the council must make some sort of good-faith effort, such as a resolution, on Tuesday to prove it will put the school-district-split questions on the ballot.

"I would like to see a pretty hard-firm yes," Curtis said. "If they don't vote on it Tuesday, that will at least spell some impact on the bill."

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Contributing: Jared Page

E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com; ldethman@desnews.com; amyjoi@desnews.com