Property taxes, the Park City School District, and plain stupidity

I received my property tax notice from Summit County yesterday. It’s up $1,500 from last year. As they say, “that’s real money.”

Three things seem to influence that. One, my property’s “value” went up by $600K. Two, the Park City School District increased taxes. Three, the state increased its levy for schools.

I am fortunate enough to be able to pay the increased taxes, but many people are going to be hit hard. What adds insult to injury is a school board meeting I was at a month ago. The school board unanimously decided to keep tax rates artificially high. The district had paid off a bond but decided to keep taxing us for it just in case they needed the money.

While it upset me at the time, now I am furious. I am furious for me. I am furious for you.

The school district doesn’t appear to care.

Nor do they appear to care about the building problems at Jeremy Ranch. The school district hasn’t followed the proper planning process for construction at Jeremy Ranch. This has shut down construction. Today we learned that the County has been educating the school district about planning requirements for years. Yet, the County has been ignored. The Park City School District’s builder, Hughes Construction, apparently doesn’t believe it needs to abide by Summit County rules, according to Summit County councilmember Glenn Wright. Mr. Wright says, “They have a contractor who says ‘no I don’t have to do that.'”

I’ll provide a personal story. A few years ago, I needed to replace the deck on my house. The builder said I didn’t need a building permit, likely because it would be easier for them. I took it upon myself to call Summit County, and they told me I did. So, I went through the process. My deck was done better because of it. Oh, and it was also the legal process.

If Hughes Construction doesn’t want Summit County involved in their Jeremy Ranch Elementary School construction, you have to wonder why. If they are doing everything to code, it should be as simple as an inspection.

Then you have the Park City School District, who hasn’t commented on the issue to KPCW. Worse, Summit County offered an olive branch to the school district on August 1st with a Limited Scope agreement that would enable the school district to get ready for the upcoming year. This would allow the school to open on August 17th. As of Thursday afternoon, KPCW is reporting that the Park City Schol District has not responded to the offer.

I keep trying to find a way of describing the actions of the Park City Schol District as it relates to the broader community.