We can’t let Park CitySchool District’s lease revenue bonds impact teacher salaries

I’ve avoided talking about the school district’s lease revenue bonds because it’s a complicated topic. However, given the way the economy appears to be heading, it is probably about time to make sure we all understand the Faustian bargain our school board made.

As most people know, the public passed a $79 million bond to add on to our schools. Then the school board authorized an additional $42 million in lease revenue bonds to facilitate adding on to Ecker Hill and Parley’s Park. You may ask, “what is a Lease Revenue Bond and how is it different from the bond I voted on?” Good question. Basically, a lease revenue bond is a debt incurred by the district that is supposed to be paid for via new revenue.

I had the chance to speak with Todd Hauber, the School District’s Business Administrator, and he said he was given the charge by the school board to find a way to fund building without raising taxes.

What Mr. Hauber and the district did was lock in a rate of about 3% for the lease revenue bonds (a month or two ago). Today, the rate is likely much higher than that. That was savvy. However, we still have to ask the question of how we will service the nrealy $3 million required each year. If we are not going to raise taxes to pay for the $3 million, then how are we going to pay for it?

Some of that debt servicing will be through other bonds being