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A new high school, junior high and at least one elementary school are on the menu for Davis School District if voters approve a $298 million bond in November.
The bond is expected to cost between $1 and $2 in additional property taxes each year for the average $240,000 home, according to district administrators, or $7.49 per average home over the life of the bond.
If approved, new debt will be issued as old bonds are retired, Davis Superintendent Bryan Bowles said Monday, to avoid a spike in costs.
"Our plan has always been to add a little bit over time so we can maintain the burden on the taxpayer," he said. "We don't do all the projects at once."
Those projects include a high school in Farmington, a junior high in west Layton and an elementary school in the northwest portion of Davis County, Bowles said. An additional grade school could be built in north Davis County, Bowles said, if required by enrollment growth.
The bond would also pay for remodels and additions at five schools, including Viewmont High and Woods Cross High.
"This is as much as we think we can afford to do right now," Bowles said. "At this point, I think we're cautiously optimistic it will pass."
With roughly 70,000 students, Davis School District is Utah's second largest district, and Bowles said projections show enrollment growing by 500 to 1,000 students each year for the next 20 years.
The district currently houses 350 portable classrooms at its 87 schools, and five elementary schools operate on year-round schedules.
Some population growth is absorbed by charter schools, Bowles said. But with the exception of the Northern Utah Academy for Math, Engineering and Science in Layton, all of the charters in the area are elementary schools, resulting in most charter students returning to the district for secondary education.
Several secondary schools are operating above capacity, Bowles said, with growth projected to continue.
"They're meeting in rooms that were not necessarily intended to be classrooms," Bowles said. "We are using every space we can."
District administrators met with representatives of the Utah Taxpayers Association last week, but the association has not yet taken a position on the bond, according to Vice President Billy Hesterman.
He said the association has requested additional data for review.
"We just make sure that they're taxing for the best result possible," he said, "but [using] the least amount of money needed."
In recent years, the taxpayers association has endorsed bonds for Washington School District and Pleasant Grove City, Hesterman said.
He said the organization is critical of "Christmas Tree" bonds, which promise funds for a variety of projects in order to draw broad support, and that it is watchful for cost-effective construction plans.
"We certainly think schools and government buildings should be safe and look nice," Hesterman said. "But they don't need to have the feeling of a grand museum or corporate office."
Hesterman said the taxpayers association also is reviewing a $39 million bond proposal by the Duchesne County School District and has requested information from Tooele County School District for its $49 million bond proposal.