Note: Recordings and documents for agenda items can be accessed via BoardDocs by clicking on the corresponding agenda items.
Truth-in-Taxation Hearing
For just the third time in Canyons’ 17-year history, the Board of Education held a state-required truth-in-taxation hearing to allow residents a chance to learn about and comment on a District proposal to increase property tax revenues. After a 45-minute hearing, the Board of Education voted to adopt a new certified tax rate. The Board’s vote puts into place a certified rate of 0.005656, which will generate an additional $6,633,200 for next year’s budget. The new rate will increase taxes on a $740,000 residence, the median-priced home in Canyons communities, $69.60 a year. Property taxes on a $740,000 business will increase $128.54 per year, according to the Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office. Business Administrator Leon Wilcox said the increase in the certified rate, which allows governing agencies to collect the same amount of revenue as budgeted the prior year, plus additional revenue from new growth in assessed value of property, will help CSD keep pace with inflation and cover growing operational expenses. Of the total earned with the new rate, $4.1 million will off-set inflationary increases and reductions in state funding. It also helps pay for operational needs, such as increased compensation for teachers, administrators, and Education Support Professionals. Another $2.5 million would cover capital expenses, including lease-revenue bond payments to help pay for the new high-tech technical training center to be housed at the former regional headquarters of eBay. Ten patrons spoke during the public-comment portion of the meeting. Recordings of their remarks can be accessed on BoardDocs and CSDtv, which produced a live-stream of the hearing. Patrons living on fixed incomes can seek assistance with the six different state relief programs for qualifying low-income, elderly, and disabled homeowners. Applications must be submitted by Sept. 2. Some homeowners also may feel the value of their property is overstated by the Salt Lake County Assessor’s Office. If you feel this is the case, you may consider appealing to the Board of Equalization. Information can be found on the Salt Lake County Auditor’s website. The deadline for appealing is Sept 15. To inform the public about the now-approved rate, CSD posted information on the website, discussed the budget during several hearings, and published the proposal in an advertisement in the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake County also mailed information to patrons. Board President Amber Shill clarified that CSD patrons voted in favor of two general-obligation bond proposals, in 2010 and 2017, to rebuild and renovate the aging schools that CSD inherited from another district. Voters continue to see yearly cost of approving those school-improvement measures. “I feel good that our District is run well, but the legislature is cutting our money and forcing us to do this. They would probably deny that, but they are putting us in a hard position,” said President Amber Shill. “Either we have to cut services or we have to raise taxes. We don’t want to raise taxes, but we are at that point where something has to give. “
Changes to Board Docs
Canyons will soon transition from Board Docs, the content-management system used mostly by governing boards of school districts, to a newer version called Diligent Community. Business Administrator Leon Wilcox and the Board secretary Cindee Clawson presented information about the software, which is used by CSD to build agendas, distribute meeting materials, capture votes and actions and create meeting minutes, among other things. CSD will start Diligent Community by September.
Consent Agenda
The Board of Education approved the Consent Agenda, including the minutes of the meeting of the Board on June 17, 2025; hire and termination reports; student overnight travel requests; purchasing bids; June financial reports; the annual Fraud Risk Assessment that is required by the Utah State Auditor.
