Alpine School District wants to raise taxes for the sixth time in 10 years

AMERICAN FORK — The Alpine School District is asking taxpayers to fork over more money.

The district is proposing a 12.2% property tax increase and plans to hold a public hearing on the matter next month.

If approved, it would be the sixth tax hike in 10 years for taxpayers in the school district, which covers central and northern Utah County.

“The tax increases over the last several years have been pretty significant,” said John Barrick, who lives in Orem and teaches accounting in college, making him “pretty familiar” with property taxes.

Barrick and other taxpayers recently received notice that the school district wants to raise taxes again after already having done so in 2023, 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018, according to state records.

In a statement Wednesday to KSL TV, the Alpine School District said the possible tax hike is “one way to fund essential capital projects and programs for students.”

“Our board takes seriously its responsibility to provide students within our district access to the best education resources,” the district added.

Frequent tax hikes

But Malah Armstrong, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, said such frequent tax hike proposals are “far more than is normal.”

Amstrong said tax increases should only happen every five to seven years to give taxpayers more stability.

“Any more than that indicates possibly one of two things,” Armstrong said. “A failure to plan or a failure to budget.”

According to the Taxpayers Association, Alpine’s proposal this year would cost taxpayers nearly $200 more a year on an average home.

Barrick plans to oppose the tax increase, but he isn’t optimistic.

“I think they’ve already made up their mind,” he said.

Standing in front of Northridge Elementary School in Orem – where his five children attended classes – Barrick said more money doesn’t necessarily make kids’ education better.

“We lost lots of programs and lots of great teachers, and our taxes have done nothing but go up,” Barrick said. “That’s frustrating.”

The Alpine School District’s truth-in-taxation hearing on the proposed increase will be held Aug. 13 at 6 p.m. at the district office in American Fork. The school board is set to vote on the matter after the public hearing.

But, the district emphasized, “[n]o decision has been made yet.”