Canyons Board unanimously approves $6.63 million tax increase to cover pay, inflation and lease bond payment

The Canyons Board of Education on Aug. 5 approved a total tax rate that will raise $6,633,200 above the certified tax rate for the coming year to cover salary increases, inflationary costs and debt service on a lease bond for the district’s innovation center.

Business administrator Leon Wilcox told the board the district’s request follows a multistep process that began last fall and continued through budget hearings in May and June. Under Utah’s certified tax rate system, Wilcox said, local taxing entities generate the same dollar amount of revenue year to year unless they hold a truth‑in‑taxation hearing and adopt a rate to raise more.

Wilcox said the district is proposing a total increase of $6,633,200 (presented as 0.005656 total tax rate). Of that amount, $4,078,200 is planned for operations — including a 1.5% cost‑of‑living increase for employees and higher insurance costs — and $2,555,000 for capital expenses or the district’s lease bond payment for the innovation center (the former eBay headquarters in West Draper).

Wilcox said the district will use about $4.1 million toward employee compensation and benefits, and that the district had hired 13 elementary assistant principals at an approximate gross cost of $2.1 million; reductions in other staffing (fewer high‑school teachers and some instructional coaches) produce a net assistant‑principal cost of roughly $1.2 million.

Wilcox presented illustrative tax‑bill impacts for the district’s average home, which the presentation showed at an assessed market value of $740,000 in 2025 (up from $703,000 in 2024 and $443,000 in 2020). On that average home, Wilcox said, the district’s portion of property taxes would increase by about $70 annually (about $6 per month) under the proposed adoption.

During public comment, residents raised concerns about district spending priorities, rising property taxes on fixed incomes, and the state’s voucher program. Speakers asked about specific expenditures (for example, break‑room items and technology) and about debt lines they believed were from prior allocations. District leaders responded that two general‑obligation bonds had been approved by voters in prior years and that recent lease bond payments relate to acquisitions such as the innovation center.

Patrons also urged more pay for education support professionals (ESP) and questioned whether tax dollars were going to private or home‑schooling tuition. Wilcox and board members said property tax revenue collected by the district does not go to private schools and noted a separately funded state voucher program that diverts state money for private and home‑school purposes.

Several board members defended the proposed increase as necessary to remain competitive in teacher pay, to address rising costs for utilities, supplies and programs, and to add elementary assistant principals who can support teachers, address increasing behavioral needs and focus on instruction. Board members also said the district is examining boundary adjustments and possible school consolidations as enrollment declines at some elementary schools.

Board discussion concluded with a motion to adopt the total tax rate (0.005656) to raise $6,633,200 above the certified rate; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote with no roll‑call recorded.