Comments about ‘Utah Legislature: Canyons School District to fork over $15M to Jordan?’

As someone who does not live in either boundaries it's time to move on. First off, to the Jordan District- If your parents and community want better schools raise taxes. Its simple. No one else should pay for your kids but your own community.

I know for instance the Park City area has a higher tax leeway- why because they want more money to go towards their kids. And you know what, they do a pretty good job! I do not live there, but the fundamental issue is the same. If education is important enough to your community do something about it- quit whining and quit asking others to pay for it.

Salt Lake, Granite, Davis, the Canyons, all these districts have their own problems that money is needed for. When schools where being built on the east side the growth was happening there (not much was even on the west side).

Furthermore, if your district was so concerned about $$ why did they build such an expensive district palace (as if you're in competition with Granite). Both buildings are a complete waste. Check out the Alpine District Offices- very conservative but does the job.

Schools are not needed in neighborhoods where businesses are established. The demand is in residential neighborhoods. Yet we insist on raising retail prices by relying on commercial property taxes to pay for schools. Businesses don't pay taxes, their customers do!

Granted, they benefit from having a well educated workforce and a great thing for society in general. But retail neighborhoods are not the neighborhoods with the demand for schools.

There would be no need for redistribution of wealth between districts if we relied only on residential property taxes for ongoing operating expenses.

And where does the demand for new schools come from? New houses. Satisfy that demand with the same kind of impact fee municipalities use for utility hookups.

The cost to homeowners will more than be made up for with reduced prices and increased employment.

So why do we do it the way we do it? Businesses are defenseless against government because they don't vote. It is the citizens trying to shift the burden to businesses that have created this disparity between west side school demand and east side school funding.

We have met the enemy and they are us!

Jordan district needs more. There are arguments for sovereignty, but ultimately it doesn't matter whether something is "precedented", it's whether it hurts the kids who need it most. School are the props against chaos in our society and the poor are made poorer when those who know their tax base and revenue is much higher want to split to make sure they get every bit of it. It may seem deserved, but the forces that prop up one area in its real-estate and sales don't give it the right to ignore the poor and I am seeing first hand how that is playing out in my school where teachers are being let go by attrition for the second year and now they are having to contemplating sending more home to increase class sizes which jeopardizes instruction further not to mention that basic curricular programs are being cut completely or reduced. Of course the poorer district members who are fighting for subsistence don't want another tax increase. We all work together in this valley, we should help pay together especially those who had no real choice in the matter regardless of arbitration. Fix the system.

You've got to be kidding me Bird. You say "This bond is as much theirs as it is ours."

Are you serious? How about letting us have some of that bond money then for our schools, especially since we're paying 58% of it for the next 15 YEARS. We thought when we voted we'd at least get a few renovations and maybe a middle school. Never happened but still we're stuck paying your debt. It was NEVER our bond. Jordan District saw to that. Less than 3% ($11M of the $360M bond plus interest) was spent in what is now the new school district. We saw no renovations or brand new schools, but this year alone, Canyons taxpayers' paid $24 million to JSD to service "Jordan SCH OLD DEBT SVCE"

How about we equalize the $360M bond debt based on where the money was spent, Rep. Bird? Or as you said: "Let's make it equal."

The East side got all it was promised from that bond money save one school. Copperview, Willow springs and Sandy didn't build themselves nor did all those elementaries magically repave themselves, fix up some buildings and put in modern playgrounds. You are being selfish and forgetful of what you took.

JSD and Rep. Bird are all for equalization as long as they are more equal. What? describes very well how money has been siphoned from CSD in favor of building new schools on the west side.

Make no mistake this has been happening for more than 30 years. Where building dollars for the westside have been 3:1 minimum. Or if you consider that last 20 years it has been closer to 6:1.

You want equal then give CSD 50% of the money that we are paying 58% of the debt. Give back the money that every district in the valley is paying to you.

Does anyone wonder why CSD split off now? It is becoming more and more evident that JSD is a broken machine but instead of fixing it Rep. Bird wants "child care". What about my kids?

The ultimate irony would be if this bill does pass (it will not) then CSD would have to raise taxes to pay for it when JSD decided to not raise taxes this year.

JSD does not have any coherent arguement on why this should happen. Move on already. I'm sick of being stalked by bitter irrational people.

I don't want to hear anyone from JSD say that the split was illegal because they did not get to vote on the issue.

Using that logic the Constitution of the United States is null and void because Great Britain did not vote on succession.

Do you know the words to "God Save the King?"

Using Bird's logic, the United States should still be paying money to the Queen. The real problem in JSD is failed leadership. Why should anyone have to pay extra for that?

Doty says he's angry. Gee, now he has a small taste of what those of on the west-side have felt all along!

The bond passed in all east-side precincts knowing full well the majority of the money would go to build west-side schools. The bond is a non issue. The Canyons is paying it's portion of the debt, not Jordan's.

It's obvious to see the reporter's bias in this story!

Considering the Canyons has three full-time lobbyists, I'm surprised they were ahead of the curve on this one. They seem to be playing catch up!

Canyons District under Doty is saving money. One of its schools, Midvale Elementary, doesn't even have a principal. That's efficiency in action.

@what | 5:42 a.m. Feb. 23, 2010

The east did NOT get all it was promised on the bond. We voted for the bond thinking that at least a few scraps would be thrown are way but that'd didn't even happen as none of the renovations were done nor a middle school on the list. Does that make the east's end of the obligation null and void since JSD didn't fulfill their's? As it stands now Canyons taxpayers will be paying TENS of MILLIONS ($25 million just this year) to pay off Jordan's bond for the next 15 YEARS. ONLY 3% of that $360 bond plus interest was spent on east projects. The bond went to build schools like the beautiful $75M Herriman High while schools like Midvale Elem. (also in the news lately) were left with huge cracks across their foundation. Yet the Jordan District has it's hand out for more?!

@what: Who is really being selfish? We would love to fix up our own schools -- if only JSD leaves us any money to do that.

Isn't it interesting that Rep. Bird's bill is being scrutinized, both good and bad, in a very public way. I applaud that full disclosure. But when Sen. Carlene Walker's district split bill was introduced it was done so secretly and passed at the last hour without public hearing or scrutiny. Seems to me the east-side never wants dialogue. Instead, they prefer to manipulate the political system to their advantage.

Someone needs to look into the accounting practices of JSD. Do we all just trust the business administrator? And hand over millions? I love how Rep. Bird says the bond passed in every area. It would not have had we known we would not get what was promised from it. Isn't this bill what we call taxation without representation. I give my taxes to a school board on which I have no representative. Not right. Is it even constitutional?

Most of your information is incorrect. Park City has the 5th LOWEST tax rate. They spend more per student because Park City is the richest district in the State of Utah. Jordan District has the 10th highest tax rate in the state, making its tax rate 83% higher than Park City. Park City spends more on kids because it simply has the money. And incidentally, Jordan did not build its "palace" district office. It is being leased because it has no money to build a building.

The JSD school board (which consisted of 4 east-side board members) spent the remainder of the bond as presented to the public -- which included mostly building new west-side schools. Those east-side board members could have stopped spending the bond proceeds at any time. The public knew the bond would be used primary for west-side projects and it still passed. You have a legal responsibility to pay your portion of the bond.

Mr. Doty's statement about this legislation undoing the arbitration panel decision is laughable. Legislation will always trump the decisions of three individuals' opinions.

I live in the middle of the valley and have never thought of myself as an east-sider OR a west-sider. I have friends who live along the Wasatch foothills and friends who live near the Oquirrh foothills. So I wonder what Barry Newbold and Jim Bird hope to accomplish. Don't they know that both "sides" are working for the benefit of children? Or have they become so blinded to not see that both "sides" have needs. They should be ashamed of themselves for pitting the east and west against each other. I harbor no ill-will at all for my neighbors to the east or west and wish them both well!