Capital Finances

Ongoing capital projects are funded at the district level. By law, the district cannot pull funding from another portion of the annual budget to fund capital projects. Capital projects can only be funded by property taxes, regardless of funding at the state level. This is a summary of Granite’s annual budget by expenditure:

Budgeted expenditures from 2016-17 Annual Budget, approved June 2016.

65.8% – Instruction, Student, and Staff Services

4.9% – Capital Outlay

10.1% – Custodial / Utilities / Plant Maintenance: Custodians, Groundskeeping, Skilled Workers, General Upkeep, etc.

1.1% – Community Services: Community Centers, Education / Recreational Programs, etc.

5.6% – School Administration: Principals, Assistant Principals, Clerical Staff, etc.

1.7% – Student Transportation

1.9% – Central Support: Human resources, Information Systems, Accounting, etc.

2.5% – Debt Service: Payment of General Obligation Principal and Interest from 2009 Bond

5.7% – School Lunch

0.7% – District Administration: All activities for establishing and administering district policies

Financially speaking, Granite has maintained a strong structure that benefits students while staying within our means.

The district has been repeatedly recognized by the Association of School Business Officials International for financial accountability and transparency.

Granite also has among the lowest administrative costs in the entire country, and our current property tax rate is well below the state average.

District	Tax Rate	Home*	Business*
Nebo Schools	0.009298	$1,278	$2,324
Davis Schools	0.008125	$1,117	$2,031
Alpine Schools	0.007718	$1,061	$1,783
State Average	0.007132	$980	$1,783
Jordan Schools	0.006906	$949	$1,726
Granite Schools	0.006481	$891	$1,620
Canyons Schools	0.006463	$888	$1,615
Salt Lake Schools	0.006180	$849	$1,545
		*Tax on $250,000 Value

While these are all great indicators of a healthy budget, our current capital funding format is not enough to meet the needs of our school buildings.

Under the current capital funding format, Granite spends about $17 million annually on renovations and building fixes district wide. With the wide scope of needed projects, the district is only able to save about $2 million annually in discretionary funds that can be put toward major school rebuild projects.

On this current track, Granite can rebuild one elementary school about every eight years.
This means that several schools all throughout the district would reach, and surpass, 100 years of operation in the same facility before receiving necessary renovations and rebuilds.>

Requirements for rebuilding schools

Based on the expertise of outside engineers, the most we can expect from our school buildings is a 60-70 year lifespan. In order to put the district on a schedule of rebuilding schools before they go beyond their maximum life cycle, we would need to rebuild:

One elementary every year.

There are 63 Elementary schools in the district.

One junior high every four years.

There are 15 Junior high schools in the district.

One high school every eight years.

There are 8 High schools in the district.

This plan would require $36.6 million in capital funds annually. The current capital budget is $17 million. The Granite School District Board of Education has been exploring a myriad of long-term capital planning options to bridge the gap in funding and keep our schools the best place to learn.