In other words, Mark has a 100% voting record of raising our taxes every chance he got over the last 6 years. So, I decided to run against him to give my neighbors a clear choice between a board member who will likely continue voting to raise their taxes (Mark), and one who definitely won't (me).

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Alpine School District is the largest school district in the state of Utah and has an annual budget of over a Billion of our hard-earned tax dollars. These tax dollars come from 4 sources:

 

1. 59% come from the State of Utah (our state income taxes), 

2. 30% come from our local property taxes, 

3. 6% come from the federal government (our federal income taxes), and 

4. 5% come from other local sources. 

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(See page 13 of the board's '23-'24 budget). Alpine School Board is the government entity in charge of taking our hard-earned tax dollars and establishing an annual budget for the school district. The base allocation the board has to work with, at current tax rates, is over a Billion dollars. You might think that the board could do a great job educating students, and would be satisfied, with a Billion dollars. But if you think that, you would be mistaken. 

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Because almost every year the board inevitably wants more money than their base allocation. And since the only tax that the board has the power to raise is our local property taxes, the board wields this power aggressively and often. They do this in two main ways. First, they can go into debt (called bonding) which raises our property taxes because our property taxes are used to pay the principal and interest on the debt (in other words, the bonding by the board results in debt bondage for you and me). Two, they take the property tax rate set by the State and raise it. In these two ways, they have the power to raise the amount of property taxes we pay every year on every home, condo, apartment, business building, or piece of land in North Utah County. 

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Ever since my wife and I bought our home in Pleasant Grove back in 2000, I noticed that, like clockwork, I get a property tax bill in the mail that must be paid in November. I've also noticed over the years that a large majority of that property tax bill goes to a single taxing entity - Alpine School District. I've also noticed, to my dismay, that my property tax bill has steadily increased over the years. Last year (2023), my property tax bill was 211% more than it was the year I bought my house (2000). Some of that can be attributed to inflation, but not all. Which means that local taxing entities, like Alpine School District, are raising taxes at a rate that is higher than inflation, which is discouraging. (You can check to see if your property tax bill has also increased faster than inflation by looking up your home or business property at the Utah County Property Search and then clicking on the "Tax History" tab, then compare your first tax year to the most recent tax year in the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator).
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Another thing I've noticed over the years is that it seems like every time I turn around Alpine School District is taking on new debt by issuing bonds, which me and all my neighbors have to pay back with interest, year after year, in the form of higher property taxes. Thankfully, some types of bonds require voter approval, so at least I've had the chance to vote against some of these bonds and their consequent tax increases. But over the years, a majority of voters have voted Yes on every bond, and thus our taxes went up.

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That is, until November 2022.
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Because in November 2022, I and my neighbors went to the polls to vote on a $595 million bond proposed by Alpine School District (see the board's bond pamphlet). Right in the middle of out-of-control inflation, which had just recently peaked at a 40-year high of 9.1% (see Bureau of Labor Statistics Article), Alpine School District wanted me and my neighbors to approve a record amount of new debt that me and my neighbors would all have to pay principal and interest toward with a record increase in our property tax bills for the next 20 years (the term of the bond). And for the first time in the 22 years that I'd owned my home, a majority of voters voted No! In fact, a strong majority voted No, with the bond failing by 5.58%, with 6,970 more voters voting No than voting Yes. (See page 14 of Official Election Results). Great! - I thought to myself when I heard the news. No tax increase! 

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That is, until 4 months later, and then again 9 months later, and then again 21 months later.

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Because 4 months later, on March 28, 2023, Alpine School Board voted to issue a lease revenue bond for $82 million. (See page 6 of the board's '22-'23 Financial Report). In other words, notwithstanding the fact that a strong majority of voters said No to a tax increase via a general obligation bond just 4 months earlier, Alpine School Board decided to raise our taxes anyway via a lease revenue bond. For some reason, which makes no sense to me as a taxpayer, the board has to get voter approval for a general obligation bond, but does not have to get voter approval, or even hold any kind of a public hearing, for a lease revenue bond. So, before the dust could even settle on the voters saying No to the general obligation bond, the board went ahead and raised all our property taxes anyway by voting to issue a lease revenue bond. 

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Then again on August 8, 2023, Alpine School Board scheduled a vote to raise the tax rate on every property owner in Alpine School District. In other words, notwithstanding the fact that a strong majority of voters said No to a tax increase just 9 months earlier, Alpine School Board decided to raise our taxes anyway, again, via a rate increase. Utah law does not require the approval of voters for a rate increase, but does require an 'Truth in Taxation Hearing' before the final vote. So a hearing was held. And I attended. And so did 145 of my neighbors. And in that hearing, as required by law, each attendee who wished was given 2 minutes to stand and tell the school board what they thought of the tax rate increase. So I did. And so did 42 of my neighbors. Not surprisingly, of the 43 of us who stood to speak, 37 (86%) made it clear they opposed the tax rate increase. (See the Official Minutes). Many speakers were seniors or disabled adults on fixed incomes who couldn't afford yet another tax increase. Others were parents with young families struggling to make ends meet. Many pleaded with the board to stop raising their taxes because they worried that they simply wouldn't be able to afford the higher tax bill and may ultimately have to sell their home and move out of the school district. And it was apparent from the clapping after each speaker that the vast majority of the 102 other attendees also opposed the tax rate increase. Great! - I thought to myself, as I sat through the meeting. Surely, I thought, with such overwhelming opposition, the school board would abandon their plan to raise the tax rate. 

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I thought wrong.
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Because within minutes of listening to 86% of the speakers oppose the tax increase, my representative on the school board (Mark Clement - School Board District 5), made a motion to raise the tax rate, and after some condescending discussion by the school board members, the motion passed unanimously. (See the Official Minutes). I was stunned! How could the Board so blatantly ignore the will of the taxpayers who came to the hearing, and the will of the voters who had just recently voted down the $595 million bond? Needless to say, I was discouraged. But in addition to being discouraged, I walked out of the meeting convinced that we need a new school board.
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Then again on August 13, 2024, Alpine School Board scheduled a vote to once again raise the tax rate on every property owner in Alpine School District. In other words, notwithstanding the fact that a strong majority of voters said No to a tax increase just 21 months earlier, Alpine School Board decided to raise our taxes anyway, for a third time, via another rate increase. The 'Truth in Taxation Hearing' went the same as before. I attended and so did dozens of my neighbors. And the vast majority of us told the school board that we oppose the tax rate increase. But just like before, within minutes of listening to the public comments, a motion to raise the tax rate passed unanimously. (See the Official Recording). This time I wasn't too surprised that the Board so blatantly ignore the will of the taxpayers who came to the hearing. It just reinforces the fact that we need a new school board.

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Since I live in School Board District 5 of Alpine School District, Mark Clement is my representative on the school board. Mark is a professor at BYU and, way back in the day, I actually took his Computer Networking class. And loved it. It was my favorite Computer Science class the entire time I was at BYU. I also bumped into him several times later on when we were both serving in Boy Scouts in the old Timpanogos District. And he seemed to do a great job there as well. I have nothing against him as a person. And I'm sure there are lots of things that we agree on. 
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But as I've researched his philosophy as a school board member, and the votes he's made in that capacity over the last 10 years that he's been on the board (spanning 3 terms, he's now wanting a 4th term), I have determined he does not represent my fiscally conservative views.

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MY PROMISE - If elected, I will never vote to raise our property taxes, either with new debt (bonds) or with an increased tax rate. I also commit to avoiding and exposing accounting gimmicks that the board has used in the past to try to sell voters on tax increases, which might sound good, but still result in higher taxes for me and my neighbors. No more tax increases. Period.