A private donor offered to pay $1.5 million to save four Salt Lake County-run child care centers from closure, giving officials until the end of 2026 to make the programs sustainable — but County Council members rejected it, Mayor Jenny Wilson said.

“I had conversations with council members and said, ‘Look, we have a partner willing to support a backfill of sorts that needs to be worked out,’” Wilson said Tuesday.

That partner, she said, would help figure out a solution to the day care’s financial problems. The donor wants to remain anonymous, Wilson added, so they don’t get “caught up in the political fight.”

A Republican-led plan to shutter the county-run day cares in Magna, Kearns, Millcreek and Salt Lake City has led to squabbling with Democrats on the partisan council.

Wilson di

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