A private donor offered to pay $1.5 million to save four Salt Lake County-run child care centers from closure, giving officials until the end of 2026 to make the programs sustainable — but County Council members rejected it, Mayor Jenny Wilson said.
“I had conversations with council members and said, ‘Look, we have a partner willing to support a backfill of sorts that needs to be worked out,’” Wilson said Tuesday.
That partner, she said, would help figure out a solution to the day care’s financial problems. The donor wants to remain anonymous, Wilson added, so they don’t get “caught up in the political fight.”
A Republican-led plan to shutter the county-run day cares in Magna, Kearns, Millcreek and Salt Lake City has led to squabbling with Democrats on the partisan council.
Wilson did not provide additional details, like who on the council rejected the funding or when the offer was made, “in the interest of keeping the peace,” she said.
“We were never brought a formal proposal,” council Chair Dea Theodore, a Republican, said in a text message Tuesday. “The mayor mentioned she was talking to possible philanthropists but nothing concrete or formal was brought to us.”
Closures were ‘not an option’
Republican council member Laurie Stringham said she wasn’t sure exactly what happened, but heard secondhand that funding was offered contingent upon the council keeping the day cares open permanently, “with discussions on growing the program and enlarging the program.”
“It was not offered to cover the cost until the end of the year for families if there was a closure at the end,” Stringham said in a text message. “That was not an option or I know there would have been unanimous support to let the charitable organization pay for the whole year, by the whole council.”
Council member Suzanne Harrison, a Democrat, said in a text that she was aware of Wilson pursuing support from philanthropists to keep the programs open.
Harrison added that she, like others in her caucus, supports such efforts.
“However,” she said, “no formal proposal was ever made to the council.”
A fight over costs, fairness
Council Republicans sought to cut the programs after Wilson proposed a 20% property tax hike to cover public safety investments and rising operational costs across the county. They say the programs don’t help enough families to justify the cost, and that it’s unfair to make taxpayers across the county chip in.
More than 250 families currently use the child care facilities, where tuition is about half the cost of other day cares.
In 2024, Salt Lake County paid $2 million to keep the facilities running amid high operational costs and low revenue.
The Republican majority on the council first voted to close the centers by year’s end, then relented amid public pressure and voted to keep them open until the end of May with a 20% tuition hike.
The mayor’s proposed budget would’ve kept the facilities open through the end of 2026 with a 20% tuition increase, costing the county about $1.56 million.
That amount, without a contribution from a donor, would have left the average Salt Lake County homeowner to pitch in less than $3 on their annual property tax bill for the programs.
With her budget proposal, Wilson had intended to work with philanthropists and state partners to determine safety nets to address the broader, “county-wide need” that didn’t just include supporting the four child care centers.
She added that she identified with comments from Democratic council member Jiro Johnson, who was concerned about the council “moving too quickly” without a better plan and timeline for affected families.
“We have to figure this out,” Wilson said. “...There’s obvious need in the community. It goes even beyond the families that we’re caring for now.”
The decision to shutter the day cares won’t be finalized until the council adopts the county’s budget at a meeting scheduled for Dec. 9.