Salt Lake County taxes pass for kids, fail for law enforcement

🦓 The 0.1% sales tax for "ZAP" programs — "Zoo, Arts and Parks" — had an overwhelming 79% of the vote in favor as of Wednesday afternoon. It helps to support attractions like Hogle Zoo, Clark Planetarium, Living Planet Aquarium, museums, arts nonprofits and more.

🏫 Salt Lake City School District will collect up to $730 million to rebuild West and Highland high schools; build a sports field house at East High; and fund sustainability upgrades district-wide. Homeowners will pay on average $220 per year for the first of 25 years.

🏡 Residents in Murray School District approved an average property tax increase of $268 per year for homeowners, totalling up to $125,000,000 for new school facilities. The measure passed with 62% of the vote.

🏬 A $30 million bond for a new, mixed-use town plaza at 2300 East and Fort Union Boulevard was poised to narrowly pass, charging Cottonwood Heights homeowners an extra $11.24 on average.

The other side: Preliminary returns showed voters narrowly opposed a $507 million bond for public safety, with about 51% of county voters marking their ballots against it as of Wednesday afternoon.

• It would have funded a lower-security "justice and accountability center" as an alternative to jail beds for low-level offenders and improvements at the jail.
• Opponents characterized the center as a homeless shelter the county would build without neighborhood input.