Officials from the Wasatch School District decided to uphold a 2013 budget plan Thursday night despite a call from a group to cut it by $5 million dollars.
Last week the Wasatch Taxpayer’s Association complained that property taxes in Wasatch County are growing at a rate that’s faster than student enrollment growth in the Wasatch School District. But during a regularly scheduled school board meeting, district officials decided to leave the budget intact. Superintendent Terry Shoemaker says the board argues Wasatch County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States with the school district seeing consistent enrollment growth of 3 percent for 21 years in a row.
“They talked about that as a challenge, but coming along with that of course are increased costs in bringing new teachers, facilities, etc…,”Shoemaker says.
Shoemaker adds, there is not necessarily a direct correlation between a percentage increase in property taxes and a percentage increase in enrollment.
“Because our school district has grown, they have a concern that their taxes should be less," Shoemakers says. "We didn’t agree with that assessment.”
The Wasatch Taxpayer’s Association did not respond to requests for comment.
But in a written statement, the group also took issue with the amount of money the district has in reserve.
Shoemaker says that issue was not addressed in the meeting.