The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Maximum sought to make up for the “negative factor”
The RE1J School Board voted 4-1 Monday evening in favor of a $2.5 million mill levy override, asking voters to pay a bit more in property taxes in support of the school district. The single “no” vote came from board member Don Hagar, who was concerned about going for more money than the so-called “negative factor” – the $1.9 million the district is underfunded by the state each year.
The majority, including superintendent Doug Tredway, agreed that going for the full amount would better ensure stability even if the state chooses to decrease its funding to the district.
“I was pleased with the result [of the vote],” said Tredway. “I’m excited we’re going to move forward. We’ve been working hard, cutting staff, freezing wages and keeping those cuts away from kids.”
Tredway said it’s gotten to the point where keeping the cuts away from kids is becoming impossible, with program and faculty cuts on the horizon, and a likelihood of increasing class sizes. “We’re to the point where cuts are beginning to affect student achievement,” he said.
In 2000, Colorado voters approved Amendment 23, which mandated funding for schools at inflation plus 1 percent. The amendment included factors upon which to base that funding, like whether schools were rural or urban, the number of at-risk kids, poverty rates, etc. In 2009, the state legislature essentially gutted Amendment 23, eliminating the factors and overriding its mandates. Since then, the RE1J district has been underfunded by $1.9 million per year, to a total of nearly $8 million since.
This year, to compensate for that, board members were pressed to cut two more faculty positions, including a math interventionist in Crested Butte.
“Our state is 43rd in the nation for funding and our district is funded at 25 percent below the state average,” added Tredway. “It’s just not sustainable. We need to take charge of this. It’s an investment in education, in our community and our kids.”
The state applies a formula in determining each district’s funding. “That formula isn’t working for us,” said Tredway. His case in point came in comparing the district to Aspen schools in Pitkin County. “They get $8,600 per student,” he said.
“We get $6,600. Does that make sense?”
The difference, Tredway explained, is that Pitkin County is considered a resort community and Crested Butte is not. That additional funding is there to compensate for the high cost of living there. “We all know this is a resort community, too. It’s expensive to live in Crested Butte.”
The override to collect $2.5 million translates to 5.4 mills. This is based on current aggregate of assessed property values in the county.
For a homeowner whose house is assessed at $250,000, that translates to $107.66 in additional property taxes per year.
Commercial property assessed at $500,000 will result in an annual increase in property tax of $784.47 per year.
The mill levy committee is set to begin crafting ballot language. The deadline for preparation and submission to the state is July 25. Voters will see the request for funding on the November ballot.
