Dave Williams, our local board has to raise taxes or ask for bond issues because the state and feds have indeed cut back on funding.
Property taxes are mainly set by the accessor at the county. The local boards merely set their levies based on what the county tells them they're going to have available.
Federal and state funding have definitely been skimmed.
I still think they should look at merging districts in this area and cutting some of the layers of staff. Example: Venice, Madison and Granite could be one district which would eliminate at least two superintendents. Those kids are coming to Granite schools from what I hear anyway so why not merge? It will happen eventually.