After facing public outcry, the Salt Lake County Council Republican majority voted to extend the life of four affordable child care centers the county owns and subsidizes until the end of May of 2026 with a rate increase.
The council held a quick special meeting Tuesday where members voted 5-3 to continue the programs that families of 270 children rely on into next year, for an added fee. But, still staring down an end date, parents have only a temporary sense of relief.
“I think they’re really focusing on kicking this problem down the road, instead of addressing it now,” said Mackenzie Miller, a parent of a 3-year-old who goes to the Magna Recreation Center day care.
According to a child care service analysis the Salt Lake County Council commissioned, monthly rates are different depending on kids’ ages and services, with participating families paying $460 for all-day preschool, $290 for before- and after-school programs, and $470 for summer camp, among other programs.
County fees are about 50% to 60% below market rates resulting in an annual county subsidy of $2 million, the study says. To close the gap, the county would need to require a minimum 20% annual rate bump for five years. That’s an amount that some parents are willing to pay this year, instead of the full closure of the centers, and come 2026, those who decide to remain at their centers will have to start paying.
Miller is frustrated that the County Council hasn’t entertained any other solutions to keep the centers afloat. “They’re just focused on cutting it,” he said.
“They said, ‘You got two months. We’re closing at the end of the year. Good luck.’ And I was kind of just shocked, really, that they could just do that,” Miller said.
Since the closure decision, parents have been organizing, attending meetings at the county building, and collecting signatures for a petition to keep the centers open.
‘No’ as Protest
Democratic council members voted against Republican council member Aimee Winder Newton’s proposal to extend the center’s time out of protest.
“I am grateful that hopefully the result of this vote will give families more time. I think this has been enormously stressful for families,” said council member Suzanne Harrison, a Democrat. “But I plan to vote no out of protest for there hasn’t been a good process to figure out solutions that would have been fiscally sustainable and viable to keep the programs open indefinitely or longer.”
That’s a sentiment Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson shared during the meeting.
“I just want to be clear, my position is we should have taken the time necessary to make these day cares viable; look at market forces, indeed ask the families to pay more, set new terms if need be,” Wilson said.
Wilson also cautioned the council that the county’s administration is her role.
“I want to make sure that there’s coordination and understanding from the divisions and departments that work within this space, rather than council members leaning into an administrative role as we look at next steps,” Wilson said.
Vote to Close Centers Happened in October
When the centers’ closure was put up for vote in late October, Republicans said that with $2 million dedicated to 270 kids a year, the county wasn’t being equitable. On Monday council chair Dea Theodore also referred to the nearly 20% tax increase Wilson proposed this year.
This is definitely extending some time for these families, and we do want to help them, too, with this process,” Theodore said. “But I also want to point out that this is due to a tax increase and some failures on the administration by letting it get to this point.”
The council also voted unanimously to work on an incentive for staff members to remain in place during the wind-down period.
Sharon Roux, the county’s human resources director said during the meeting “as we have a state licensure requirement, we have to have certain staffing ratios, and so it will be really critical for the viability of this program and to make it available through the end of May that we keep staff in place in order to do that.”
The uncertainty brought by the decision to close the day care centers with little notice has already taken a toll on employees, though, said council member Ross Romero.
“Besides being a provider, we’re also an employer, and it really does feel like the employees’ voice was not considered very well in this decision to close these day cares,” Romero said, “so much so that we’ve had people already leave the county employment or looking to leave the county employment because of the uncertainty.”
This article was originally published by Utah News Dispatch.
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About the Author
Alixel Cabrera covers the status of diverse Utah communities, growth, infrastructure and education for Utah News Dispatch.
