A primary home worth $1.3 million can expect to pay about $150 more a year with the tax increase, according to the budget approved by the school board Tuesday. A state-mandated Truth in Taxation hearing is scheduled for Aug. 20, at 6 p.m.
The increase will help pay for the compensation agreement reached last year between the school district and the teachers union. Last year teachers, secretaries, custodians and all other salaried employees of the school district got a 16% pay increase. On Tuesday the board approved an additional 6% bump for the next fiscal year, per the terms of the agreement.
Park City School District Administrator Randy Upton said the competitive pay will help the district hire and retain staff.
“This year as I’ve looked at other districts coming in, there’s been a couple districts at 5%,” Upton said. “Districts around us have been at 4%, 2.75%.”
That agreement does not include a raise for Park City School District Superintendent Jill Gildea, who was the highest-paid superintendent in Utah in 2023.
According to data from Transparent Utah, the state auditor’s public employee salary database, Gildea earned almost $320,000 in wages last year and over $95,000 in benefits. In total, more than $415,000.
The Park City School District reports 4,200 students are enrolled across eight schools.
For comparison, the superintendent of the Alpine School District, the largest in the state, earned just over $240,000 last year with about $100,000 in benefits for a total of around $340,000. Shane Farnsworth’s district supports 84,000 students in over 80 schools.
State data shows teachers in Park City and their Utah County counterparts both earned an average of about $93,000 last year.
Gildea has one year remaining in her contract, which also includes a home in the area and a vehicle.
The board must notify Gildea by Feb. 1, 2025, if it does not plan to renew her contract.
Three seats on the school board are up for election in November. Two incumbents, Andrew Caplan and Wendy Crossland, aren’t running for reelection and plan to step down after this year.
Park City School District Business Administrator Randy Upton will be on the KPCW Local News Hour Thursday morning at 8:30 to talk more about the proposed tax increase and next year’s budget.
Utah’s top-earning superintendents, in order of enrollment, according to 2023 data from Transparent Utah:
Alpine School District Superintendent
Shane Farnsworth
Wages: $240,450
Benefits: $101,186
Total: $341,636
Enrollment: 84,000
Number of schools: 85
-
Davis School District Superintendent
Daniel Linford
Wages: $248,399
Benefits: $99,506
Total: $347,905
Enrollment: 70,000
Number of schools:89
-
Granite School District Superintendent
Richard Nye
Wages; $273,312
Benefits: $103,763
Total: $377,075
Enrollment: 60,000
Number of schools: 80
-
Nebo School District Superintendent
Richard Nielsen
Wages: $250,399
Benefits: $96,223
Enrollment: 43,000
Number of schools: 45
-
Provo City School District Superintendent
Keith Rittel
Wages: $290,257
Benefits: not found
Enrollment: 14,200
Number of schools: 19
-
Park City School District Superintendent
Jill Gildea
Wages: $318,945
Benefits: $96,255
Total: $415,201
Enrollment: less than 5,000
Number of schools: 8
