The Nebo School District special election a week from today shows why such elections should be modernized.

The district is asking for approval of $160 million in bonds to build seven schools. Residents would see no immediate increase in taxes from the bonds, but the life of the district's bond debt would be extended from 2023 to 2028. That means that homeowners with babies in the house will be paying higher taxes when many of those children are in high school. That may seem like a long time, but ask any grandparent how fast those years go by.

If the measure passes, there will also be an accompanying tax increase to help pay for maintenance costs.

The first problem is the election's date: June 23. That time of year, many families will be on vacation, involved in other summer activities or just plain not thinking about school. Moreover, there are no other elections that might draw in more voters; it's just the bond alone. Turnout is expected to be skimpy. That maximizes the power of vested interests -- public school employees, for example -- which may not represent a fair snapshot of typical voters' beliefs.

Bond issues can be placed on November ballots, which usually have the largest turnouts, but districts often cite rising costs and construction schedules for justifying votes at odd times. School boards in the past often picked dates when there were no other elections to draw voters in.

The Legislature tried to remedy that by mandating that school elections be held in conjunction with other elections: on the first Tuesday of November or on the fourth Tuesday in June -- the latter a typical primary election date.

But odd-numbered years seldom have June primaries, as is the case this year. That puts the issue back at square one.

The Legislature needs to fine-tune this law. The June election date could remain in even-numbered years, but the state should mandate that in odd-numbered years, school bond issues can only be put up for a vote at the November election or with municipal primaries in the fall. Perhaps it might also allow bond measures to be put up every four years at the Western States Primary for presidential hopefuls, like the one in February 2008

Whatever the final form, some such arrangement would bring out a more representative sample of voters to decide these crucial issues.

One other issue ought to be addressed by the Legislature. County election officials usually oversee regular voting, but not special school votes. Which brings us to the second troublesome fact about the Nebo vote next week: The district itself is running the election.

As Utah County officials put it, the County Clerk's Office is providing the voter rolls. All other functions of the election are being administered under the direction of the Nebo School District.

That means the school district is in charge of everything from renting the voting machines, setting up polling places at district schools, and certifying the final results.

What would you think if the elections for county commissioner were directly and entirely run by ... the county commissioners? That would seem odd at best.

This is not to impute any misbehavior to Nebo officials. But it's a structural problem that sidesteps neutrality. Having the district so closely involved raises the issue of conflict of interest.

The practice is not new; districts have long run their own elections. But that doesn't make it a good idea. We can only suppose that the practice began in the days when the biggest fiscal decision a district would make was how much coal to buy for the furnace.

That era is long past. Just look at the Nebo bond vote: $160 million dollars. That would completely fund Provo City's operating budget for a year, with a few million left over. But no one would think of letting Provo's mayor and council run the balloting for city elections.

School bond elections need to be subject to a third party's supervision. And if school bond elections are held with other elections, then there should be no problem with having county election officials oversee those as well. Utah lawmakers should encode the principle of election neutrality in state law.

In the meantime, all this only underscores the importance of the June 23 vote. We urge all Nebo School District residents to study the issues and vote.