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I am writing to let you know about District 12’s mill levy question, which will be on the November ballot. Property taxes have been the traditional funding vehicle for most public schools. In 1982, Coloradans voted to pass the Gallagher amendment which required 45 percent of property taxes to come from residential properties and 55 percent from commercial properties. That may have seemed like a reasonable thing to do at the time since residential properties represented about 45 percent of total property values. Unfortunately, residential properties have risen to 75 percent of total property value and still only carry 45 percent of the tax burden. The state legislature has no choice but to continually lower residential property taxes so collections do not exceed 45 percent of the total. This is great news for the Colorado homeowner as our state ranks in the bottom ten for property tax rates. n comparison, New Jersey homeowners pay close to a whopping four times the amount of property taxes the average Coloradan does.

The downside is our state also ranks in the bottom ten of K-12 funding. Cheyenne Mountain School District is even at a bigger disadvantage. Our school district receives $10,072 per student in total funding. This is less than all our peer districts in town with Manitou at $10,477, Air Academy at $10,489 and Lewis Palmer at $10,531. While the difference of $459 per student may not seem like much, we would have an additional $1.6 million dollars per year if we were funded at the same level as Lewis-Palmer. Boulder School District spends $13,198 per student. Our friends in New Jersey are spending $20,531 per student. Despite our funding disadvantage, District 12 remains the highest-ranked large school district in Colorado.

What does all of this mean? We are getting an incredible value in this district! We enjoy some of the lowest residential property taxes in the US, and our kids are still able to compete with the top students from schools around the country. For a family with three kids, close to $400,000 is spent on their K-12 education. That is a pretty great deal for annual school property taxes of about $1,400 per year. for the average homeowner.

We do, however, need to maintain the level of funding we have been getting. About $1,200 of the $10,072 comes from previously passed mill levy overrides. Since property taxes are computed by multiplying the market value of a home by the residential assessment rate (previously 7.96 percent, now 7.2 percent) and then by the tax rate (now 5.3 percent), any reduction in the residential assessment rate will reduce our ability to collect our previously approved override funds unless the board of education is able to adjust the mill levy (tax rate) to offset the reduction caused by the assessment rate decrease.

The board of education has placed a question on the November ballot that will give us the ability to adjust our mill levy. If the question passes, the board will adjust the 2017 mill levy to 55 (5.5 percent) from the current 53 (5.3 percent). This will provide adequate funding for next year while still reducing residential school property tax $26 per $100,000 market value of your home.

Whether you are one of the families that has had multiple generations educated in D-12 or a non-parent homeowner that has benefited from an increased property value stemming from our outstanding community asset, every homeowner in the district benefits from Cheyenne Mountain School District and its tradition of excellence.

Please vote “yes” on 3D. The board of Eeducation would like this question passed with overwhelming support to signify appreciation for the outstanding job done by our teachers and other D-12 team members. If you are not registered to vote in the district, please update your registration at https://www.sos.state.co.us/voter today!

-Russell Ross, Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 Board of Education Treasurer