Voted Local Levy
Garfield School District will be asking voters of Garfield County to approve a Voted Local Levy in the November election this year. The ballots will be mailed to all registered voters in mid- October and must be post marked and returned on or before the election date in November. The District mailed flyers to each box holder in the County with additional information relating to the Levy. I would respectfully request each patron to become informed so you can make the best possible decision when the vote occurs. I am attending all of the City Council meetings across the County to answer questions and inform the public. Some of the key points of interest are as follows: Garfield County School District will have two General Obligation bonds that will be paid off in June of 2014 and June of 2015. Voters approved these bonds to build new buildings or additions in the District. When these bonds are paid off in the next two years, the District will be completely out of debt. If the voters approve the Voted Local levy, their taxes will not increase. The taxes will remain flat which means as the General Obligation bonds drop, the Voted Local Levy would collect the same rate of taxes so the overall taxes will not increase. The plan for the additional money would be to save the money for the next six years and pay cash for a new elementary school. The District would then continue to save the money to build additional schools and structures. The plan would allow the District to stay out of debt and replace old buildings in the future, as well as, acquire interest on the money instead of paying interest on loans with a General Obligation bond; saving the taxpayers money. An additional advantage is that the Utah State Office of Education receives money from the Utah Legislature to supply additional funding or add-on dollars to districts that have a Voted Local Levy. The District would receive approximately $55,000 every year from the State of Utah. Any money left over in the State’s general education fund by statute, half of the money goes into the Legislative “rainy day fund” and the other half is distributed to districts that have a Voted Local levy. This year the General Education fund had an excess of $150,000,000 but because Garfield is one of only seven districts that does not have a Voted Local Levy, the students in the District will not have an opportunity to see this money reach the classrooms. Please take a few minutes to review the information that has been mailed to you so you can be an informed voter. Board members and I have attended several city council meetings to present information. If you would like to hear the presentation at the remaining city councils, we will be in the following locations discussing the Voted Local Levy:
Henrieville September 11 7:00 pm Antimony September 19 4:00 pm
Tropic City September 12 4:00 pm County Commission September 23 11:30 am
Escalante City September 17 7:00 pm Panguitch City September 24 5:30 pm
–Superintendent Ben Dalton
