House passes SB83 to direct part of WPU increases to school equalization fund

The Utah House on Feb. 28 passed third substitute Senate Bill 83, a measure to channel a portion of any Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) increases above inflation into an equalization fund for school districts that cannot easily raise local property-tax revenue.

Representative Thurston, sponsor on the floor, described the bill as a way to ensure that “as we increase our equal funding, we also put a little tiny bit of money into the unequal funding to go with it,” directing state tax dollars to districts that struggle to raise property taxes because of low property values or federally owned land.

Thurston said the proposal arose from work over the previous year and would prioritize the minimum school program: after calculating the inflationary obligation in any year, the bill would dedicate a slice of additional money into an equalization pot distributed to lower-capacity districts.

Representative Stanquist questioned whether appropriations committees could already allocate money to equalization without the bill and warned the measure could limit future flexibility. Thurston acknowledged appropriations can act but said the bill creates a requirement to allocate funds above inflation to equalization.

Representative Lyman asked for clarification about the “local levy growth account” referenced in the bill. Representative Pulsipher explained that the account was created to hold a basic rate-freeze fund and is used to increase the guaranteed rate for school districts; Pulsipher described it as the funding source used to support districts with low property tax capacity.

After summations were waived, the House voted. Third substitute SB83 passed the House 67–2 and will be returned to the Senate for further consideration.