Provo school officials hope taxpayers will toss $35 million their way with the June 27 bond election, but some residents say the district should make do on its current income.

The Provo City School District would sell $35 million in bonds to rebuild a downtown school and build an elementary school on the city's west side. The district also is seeking an annual $1.5 million leeway, a permanent voter-approved tax increase, to help run the new school. Residents of the Lakeview area say their school is long overdue, but others question why it is needed, after the district consolidated middle schools and closed one elementary school in east Provo in 2005.

When superintendent Randy Merrill and business administrator Kerry Smith arrived in 2003, the district's finances were in dire shape. Spending exceeded revenues by $2 million to $3 million a year, reserves were depleted, and the district had taken on a $5 million load of debt not approved by voters that threatened its bond rating.

Now the district is touting improved finances over the last three years and says it has cut spending to the bone before asking voters for help. Reserves are up, spending has been brought in line with revenues, and the debt has been paid down to about $2.4 million, Smith said.

Merrill said the district needs the new money to satiate Provo parents' hunger for neighborhood schools.

"The plan is a public inspired plan, a public that wants neighborhood elementary schools," Merrill said. "We've taken the hard steps by consolidating the middle school and doing lots of other things. We made all the hard decisions about the school system, and now we're saying, 'You've defined for us the kind of school system you want in Provo, and that's what we're trying to give you.' "

Board of Education member Carolyn Wright said Provo's neighborhoods and the schools that go with them set the city apart.

"We've found that a grammar school is central to a neighborhood, and what the people were really saying is the neighborhood atmosphere in Provo is really important to them. That's why they moved here," she said.

Provo parent and bond supporter Dalene Rowley said the facilities master planning process showed the Provo parents want neighborhood schools. "They are merely trying to respond to the priorities set by the majority of the people in this community. They cannot give us what we have asked for unless we all pony up and contribute to the goal of making it happen -- improving our schools and providing sufficient resources to educate all the children in our community."

Dollars and cents

The bonds would be sold over three years to pay for building and remodeling projects, as well as seismic studies and energy projects. The leeway also would be phased in, with $600,000 being levied in 2007 and in 2008, and the remaining $900,000 beginning in 2009.

The owner of a $200,000 home would pay $41 more in taxes in 2007, an additional $30 in 2008 and another $59 in 2009, for a total increase of $130, according to the district. A $200,000 business would pay $74 more in 2006, $55 more in 2007 and $107 more in 2008, for a total increase of $236.

In 2007, the district would buy property to expand Timpanogos Elementary, and projects at Sunset View and Provost elementaries and Centennial Middle School would begin. Energy projects and seismic studies also would begin. In 2008, construction would begin on Timpanogos Elementary, and remodeling would start at Provo High. In 2009, the Lakeview school would go up, and Westridge Elementary would be remodeled.

A case for necessity

Taxpayers in the district don't have a comparatively high tax burden. The Utah Taxpayers Association lists Provo's tax rate at 82 percent of the state average, while its tax base is above the state average at 109 percent, or $286,142 of assessed property value per student.

The district is still repaying about $31 million in bonds, including a 1997 bond issue, when taxpayers pitched in $22.5 million to build schools. In 2004, the district refinanced some of the bond debt, saving taxpayers about $1.5 million, Merrill said.

Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, points out that Provo spent 74 percent of its maintenance and operation funds in the classroom this year -- third in the state only to districts in Logan and South Sanpete. "By that measure, they're running their school district comparatively well," Jerman said. The association has not taken a position on the bond.

The Provo-Orem Chamber of Commerce stamped its seal of approval on the district's plans in April with a resolution. The resolution encouraged Provoans to "keep education a top priority to enhance the quality of life in Provo City and ensure continued success of the business community."

Chamber president Steve Densley predicts that the extra taxes won't scare businesses away. "For the most part, I don't see it as a major deterrent for anybody. I think it's a wise decision on the part of the school district to monitor and continue to work very hard to make sure our school district in Provo is as good as it can possibly be."

In fact, Densley said businesses want to make sure a community's education system is solid when they are deciding whether or not to relocate to Provo.

"The burden's placed on the business," Densely said. "If they want to hire people and those people aren't prepared, we've either got to spend the money to send them back to school for remedial education or we potentially have an employee that's not going to be living up to the standards we need to have."

Realtor Anne Fairchild said parents also are looking at the quality of schools when they move to Provo, which she cited as a reason to vote "yes" on June 27. "There are people that say, 'Well I don't have kids in the schools. Why should I worry about the bond or leewayfi' But it's your home. Someday your home will sell, more than likely to a family, and they're the ones that are going to say, 'How are your schoolsfi What are your schools likefi What are your teachers likefi' "

Kathleen Larsen cited the deteriorated Timpanogos Elementary as a critical need among Provo schools, saying the building is "falling apart." She was a member of the district's facilities master planning committee, which toured the school when it was considering building projects. "They had two-by-fours running the length of the ceiling keeping the ceiling from coming down on students," she said.

The $800,000 a year the leeway would provide to help compensate teachers also is imperative, Larsen said. "New teachers who would be dedicated teachers are saying, 'I can't afford to be that. I could, but I can't raise a family on that.' They're choosing alternative careers."

Fairchild also praised the leeway proposal for the money it earmarks for teachers. "If we don't keep that consistent, if we don't keep the excellent teachers we have at Timpview -- there are teachers here that pour their heart and soul into those kids -- they will go somewhere or we won't be able to replace them when they retire with the quality teachers that the kids need."

At a recent presentation about the bond, Provo resident Robert Petersen quizzed district officials about the need for the money.

He said he was worried about a recent statistic he heard that ranked Utah 35th nationally in math scores.

"If we're going to be 35th in math, how do we improvefi And just pumping money in doesn't seem to be the answer," Petersen said.

Cheri Wallace the mother of five children who attend Provo public schools, said she's willing to pay for improvements. "Somebody's got to pay for it. I know they need more money in the schools. They're not getting enough to reduce the class sizes at Timpview. Centennial needs that auditorium."

Too heavy a burdenfi

Brian Dabb has posted anti-bond signs on the apartment properties he owns. He said the fact that the district is doing better at managing its finances doesn't mean it needs more money.

"I can't just go out and say, 'Hey, I need a raise because I spent unwisely.' I have to wait until my next paycheck or budget it into next year's finances," he said. "I can't just go out and get somebody to give me more money just because we didn't manage the budget properly."

Dabb said the tax increase would hurt his business. "As landlord, it's not something we can easily pass along, property tax increases. If we pass them along we actually lose more money through higher vacancy rates. My guess is rental rates will have to increase."

Dabb acknowledges that the district has been facing neighborhood-school pressure from parents but said those demands come with a price tag. "Neighborhoods have said we really don't want this school closed even though it will cost more to run that school. Those are choices that have to be made, and those choices come with consequences, and sometimes the consequence is that some things have to wait a while."

Jerman questioned whether increasing taxes is the best solution to a cash crunch.

"Obviously everyone would like to have a school in their neighborhood." he said. "The question is, 'Is it financially practicalfi' I think we all want things, but we recognize from time to time that we can't afford things we want. That's not just taxpayers. That's individual households and businesses."

Dean Sanpei, the father of two students in Provo public schools, is organizing opposition on the city's east side to the bond and leeway. He's most fervently opposed to the leeway because it would be a permanent tax increase.

"That's an indefinite use of a property tax increase, and I don't know if that's been communicated very well," he said. The district should use money from the sale of the former Joaquin Elementary before raising taxes, Sanpei said. "Instead they're asking the taxpayers for a pretty significant increase, and they're not being effective using other resources they have." The district has earmarked the $6 million from the Joaquin sale to help pay off the debt and for future maintenance needs.

Considering the options

Provo parent Julie Durrant said the district should consolidate students into extended-day programs and year-round schools instead of raising taxes, but she said the district has not been willing to pursue those options.

The tax increase will be too hard on retired and fixed-income residents, she said. "A 20 percent tax increase is a lot to a person living on Social Security and retirement."

Merrill counters that parents have made it clear that larger schools aren't Provo's style. "They don't want their 6-year-old kids getting on a bus and being bused across town, and I don't either. I appreciate that view, but I don't think that's what parents want for their kids. I don't think that's what the community wants for its kids."

A new west side schoolfi

At a Board of Education meeting in February, Lakeview residents made passionate pleas for a school in their area. Christian Faulconer, a parent in the Lakeview neighborhood, said he would like to see his children play in the afternoons with the same children they go to school with.

"It would attract families with children, and I feel it would really level the playing field for this neighborhood and the neighborhoods on the east and unite the city as a whole," Faulconer said.

Provo parent Dianna Phillips is not convinced that a new school is a necessity. "I know they really want one, but I just feel the way our money has been spent has not been spent wisely," she said. Her children attend Grandview Elementary, also on the west side, which might have to be closed if Lakeview is built.

What's at stakefi

Only about 20 percent of Provo's households have children of school age, so parents who want money for schools will have to convince their neighbors to vote their way, too.

Wallace hosted a meeting on Wednesday night to help her neighbors learn about the bond.

"I would hope they would be open minded enough to consider it because somebody else paid for their kids to go to school," she said before the meeting. "If I was a grandma, I'd want to know why my taxes might go up and see if I thought it was worth it, so I hope people will come and be open minded, not just see the dollar sign."

With situations like the windows at Rock Canyon -- which aren't energy-efficient -- everyone should be able to see the need, Wallace said.

"If a grandma or grandpa was in there, they'd say, 'For heaven's sakes, can't we get enough money to fix the windowsfi' I think it's just a matter of being open minded and knowing what's needed," she said.

Provo resident Royce Flandro doesn't buy the argument that people without children in the schools shouldn't have to pay.

"The people that say that, their kids had schools paid for by people whose kids had already left," he said. "For the new generation, that's an investment we should be making."

Anna Chang-Yen can be reached at 344-2549 or annac@heraldextra.com.

Provo School District

2005 rates

$100,000 home $336.82

$200,000 home $673.64

$200,000 business $1,224.80

2005 rates

$100,000 home $594.33

$200,000 home $1,188.66

$200,000 business $2,161.20

2007 rates (proposed totals)

$100,000 home $614

$200,000 home $1,230

$200,000 business $2,235

2008 rates (proposed totals)

$100,000 home $629

$200,000 home $1,260

$200,000 business $2,290

2009 rates (proposed totals)

$100,000 home $659

$200,000 home $1,319

$200,000 business $2,397

Source: Utah County Clerk Auditor's Office and the Provo City School District

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.