School district schedules Aug. 14 public meeting for proposed tax increase
by Laura Haley
Contributing Writer
Jul 25, 2013 | 1874 views | 0 0 comments | 54 54 recommendations | email to a friend | print
The Grand County Board of Education will hold a Truth in Taxation meeting Aug. 14 to discuss a proposed tax increase designed to increase revenue for the district.

According to Jim Webster, president of the school board, the meeting will be held to discuss an increase to the capital local levy tax rate. The tax increase was included in the tentative budget that school board members approved during their June meeting.

Grand County School Business Administrator Robert Farnsworth said the tax increase discussed at the Truth in Taxation meeting will actually be less than the amount previously considered by the school board. The change is due to a decrease in the basic tax rate.

“In order to raise the $200,000 that we intended to, we actually needed to raise it even less,” school board member Beth Joseph said.

The school board intends to use the additional revenue that will result from the increase to the capital local levy rate for building projects, such as the renovations or new construction that district officials have said are needed for the Grand County Middle School.

Farnsworth said the basic rate, which is set by the state, went down slightly, which allows the district to recapture that revenue. The board originally discussed a rate of .000151 percent in the capital local levy, which would have resulted in an increase of $17.18 per year on a $200,000 home. However, Farnsworth said that school board members are now looking at an increase of .000072 percent.

“It will be just under half of what we originally planned,” he said.

Grand County School District Superintendent Scott Crane said Farnworth will prepare a presentation for the Aug. 14 meeting regarding the tax increase and the impact it is expected to have on property owners.

“If anyone wants to come in and have us look at their taxes, we’ll look at them individually,” Crane said.

The Truth in Taxation hearing will be held Aug. 14 at 6:00 pm at the Grand County School District office, 264 South 400 East in Moab. Members of the public are encouraged to attend.

Farnsworth said that property tax notices are expected to be mailed out by the county before the meeting, so that residents will have a chance to review them ahead of time.

The board will not take a final vote on the increase until the next board meeting on Aug. 21. They will accept comments regarding the issue until then.
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