By Julie Johansen
The Emery County School Board held a Truth-in-Taxation Hearing on Wednesday at the district office in Huntington. The purpose of the hearing was to inform the public about the levy judgements and allow residents to give input and express their concerns. The hearing was to consider the proposed judgment levy for Deseret Generation and Transmission Coop and the proposed increase in capital levy to .001100. (Deseret Generation owns 39% of Hunter 2 Power Plant.)
Emery School Board President Tracey Johnson called the meeting to order and explained the purpose of the meeting. She also explained the requirements for addressing the board, stating that everyone wishing to speak would need to submit a written request form provided by the board. Each individual needed to state their name and company or group they represent, if applicable. They were then allowed three minutes to speak. Johnson requested that individuals remain respectful and courteous. She then asked business manager Jackie Allred to explain where they were and how they got there.
Allred explained, with a slideshow presentation, that the judgement levy was a result of the Deseret Generation and Transmission Coop’s assessed value being lowered by $23,788,000, which required a refund by Emery County in the amount of $297,215. Of this, the Emery County School District’s portion was $137,403. A tax rate of .000064 would be applied to pay the judgement in December 2022. This is separate funding from capital expenses. This was not an increased tax rate, which was .000070 in 2021.
Allred then explained the capital outlay levy. In 2013, after inspections and evaluations by architects and maintenance crews, the board addressed the best course of action for maintaining schools. The district had a very low capital outlay fund and has only been able to cover the necessary costs of the buildings as they grew older. The reason the reserves are so low for maintenance on older buildings is because Emery has had one of the lowest building levies in the state for the last two decades.
Most of the buildings were built in or prior to the 1970s. Allred showed each building with the construction dates and the dates of various updates. In August of 2020, the district received estimates and it was decided that they could afford only one new elementary schools and Emery High School. Ferron Elementary was chosen because of infrastructure needs.
KMA Architects and Westland Construction gave the district an estimate for a bond election of $75 million. This included the sports complex at Emery High and an addition at Book Cliff Elementary. It was then decided to do the sport complex at the high school first because of the high costs of building in the same footprint.
Then, in March of 2020, the symptoms of COVID hit and material costs escalated, but labor seemed to be holding steady. Even with those increases, the budget was adequate and could be maintained as bonded. In May 2021, the cost escalated to $82.5 million. With costs exceeding previous estimates, in January of 2022, the contractors presented the school board with three options, which were considered carefully in order to still have the best high school possible with some reduction in cost. Funds could be taken from the rainy day fund that the district had accrued for catastrophic needs, an estimated $3 million was to come from the solar companies in the county in time to make the final payment, along with the proposed capital levy.
Allred then explained the assessed valuation of Emery County. Eighty percent of the taxes collected countywide are paid by centrally assessed companies and the citizens pay only 20% at this time. The board has specifically scheduled the final payoff date to be in 2040, the year officials report the power plants could be shut down.
The public comment portion then began. Eight individuals were given time to address the board in the order that their written requests had been received. Some questions included why the sports complex was built first, what the contingency plan is, why not use SITLA money, how much in the rainy day fund is left, what about declining enrollment and how to get state money. The questions were directed to the applicable board member, administrator or construction manager.
Westland Construction explained why the sports complex was built first, stating that it was for students’ safety and consideration. Continuing, underground infrastructure was needed for the new building while another goal was to not interrupt scheduled learning and participation times. It was also explained that SITLA funds are state regulated and cannot be used for capital expenditures.
There is $5,000,000 in the rainy day fund that would probably only cover the district for one or two months. They replied that enrollment is declining ,but buildings are expiring and funds are needed to keep up with that. As for state funding, Emery District did not qualify because of the current low capital levy. The proposed rate is specifically set to qualify Emery District for future state funding if continued.
A motion was then made to approve the judgement levy of .000064. The motion was then amended to take the appealed tax funding out of the rainy day fund. This motion passed as amended.
The motion to approve the capital outlay levy was made and seconded. Before a final vote was placed, a second motion was made to table the item. This motion was seconded and passed in order for the board could do more research.
The meeting was then adjourned following appreciation from the board to the crowd for attending. The school board will meet again at the district office on Monday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m.
