West-side cities' anti-split coalition dissolved

The coalition of west-side cities against splitting the Jordan and Granite school districts is no more.

The Riverton City Council issued a statement Thursday, saying the city will not take part in any legal fight over the state law that allows cities to break away from existing school districts and form smaller ones.

"Based upon facts available at this time, the Riverton City Council does not believe that joining in litigation is the most effective means to assure the equitable distribution of education tax revenues for Riverton city students and taxpayers," the statement reads. "Therefore, the Riverton City Council has elected not to participate."

Riverton Mayor Bill Applegarth essentially had been the last man standing in a bid to challenge the constitutionality of the law under the 14th Amendment's guarantee of one man, one vote.

Under the new state law, cities can split from a school district without a vote of the entire district, meaning residents in those cities left behind have no say in the matter.

Applegarth declined comment Thursday, saying only that the City Council has made its statement and that it would stand as the city's official position.

Feasibility studies for proposed splits by east-side cities and West Jordan from the Jordan School District indicate that Riverton and its southwest Salt Lake County neighbors Herriman and Bluffdale would struggle financially to keep up with all of the new schools that will need to be built over the next 10 to 15 years.

That means hefty property tax increases for Riverton residents are likely.

Riverton had been poised to stop or postpone the district split with a legal challenge of the law. That bid took a serious hit last month as Riverton's west-side allies began breaking away from the coalition.

Action by the state Legislature during a special session Aug. 22 fractured the alliance by taking the Salt Lake County Council's say on a Jordan split out of the equation and lowering the minimum population required for a new school district from 65,000 to 50,000.

Riverton city attorney Ryan Carter has estimated that a legal challenge to the law would cost about $75,000, with that figure topping $100,000 if a decision was appealed.

In the end, the Riverton City Council decided that price tag was too high without the support of its neighbors. Of the five other cities that had been on board for the lawsuit, only Herriman had remained in Riverton's corner.

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