Letter: Proposition 2 will protect Orem’s money, land
Orem school properties owned by the Alpine School District (ASD) are high value real estate. Because of location, some school properties go up in value. When an older school appreciates in value because of location, when the cost of repair and upgrade is more than the replacement cost, the smart thing to do is build a new school on a piece of low-value land and sell the appreciated high-value property. An example of this was the sale of the Provo High School property to Brigham Young University and relocation of Provo High School to a lower value property in Provo.
The ASD has engaged in a practice of consolidating, demolishing, and liquidating high value Orem school properties. The difference is that sale proceeds go to build schools in high growth areas outside of Orem. When Provo did this, the money stayed in Provo. When ASD does this, it leaves Orem taxpayers bleeding.
Polaris High School was moved to American Fork and the 4.93-acre Orem property was offered to Orem City for $9.2M. It was sold to UVU. Hillcrest and Scera Park were consolidated into Centennial and the Hillcrest property was sold. Geneva Elementary has been demolished and a commercial developer is interested in purchasing the high value 9.58-acre site. There has been discussion of consolidating Sharon and Winsor with the potential sale of another high-value property. Orem Junior High’s 19.8 acres and Mountain View’s prime property are also potential targets. Lakeridge Junior High with 21.26 acres has been spoken for by UVU. Commercial developers are salivating over the possibilities. No money from the $595M bond is being spent on any of the target schools.
If this practice continues, high-value Orem resources will be depleted. According to the 2020 census, Orem School age population continues to grow. Orem taxpayers will have to pay the high price for future high value Orem school properties. Orem taxes will go up. Save your tax dollars now. Stop the bleeding. Vote NO on Prop 1 Vote YES on Prop 2
Wes Parish, Orem
