This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Voters in Salt Lake County and Utah County approved $630 million in school bonds on Tuesday for the Jordan and Alpine School Districts, according to preliminary election results.
At press time, vote totals showed the $245 million Jordan bond succeeding by 14 percentage points, with voters in Alpine voting 68 percent to 32 percent in favor of a $387 million bond.
Jordan School District plans to rebuild one school and build five new schools. Its 20-year bond is estimated to cost $16.80 each year in new property taxes for a home valued at $300,000.
Alpine's bond is not expected to raise taxes for property owners, but will maintain current taxing levels as debt from a 2011 bond expires. Plans for the bond include the construction of nine new schools and the reconstruction of four existing schools, as well as renovation projects throughout the district.
In a prepared statement, Alpine School District Superintendent Samuel Jarman expressed appreciation for the community's support.
"We are anxious to begin breaking ground on a new high school in Eagle Mountain along with other projects that are desperately needed," he said. "I want to thank parents, employees and community leaders who helped inform voters and supported this initiative."
Neither bond was opposed by the Utah Taxpayer Association, a frequent critic of bonding efforts in the state.
In its June newsletter, the taxpayer association wrote that in Jordan School District, "officials have committed to your Taxpayers Association that they are working to keep construction costs down to keep schools built within limits that are appropriate to taxpayers."