Colorado Springs’ 2 largest school districts are vying for property tax increases. Where would that money go?
Colorado Springs’ two largest school districts are hoping for taxpayer support in raising employee salaries, among other initiatives.
Voters this fall are deciding whether to award Academy School District 20 and School District 49 extra money by way of mill levy overrides, which are ballot measures that allow school districts to raise property tax rates in order to exceed the dollar amount granted to them by the state under its funding formula. The multiyear commitments will impact taxpayers to varying extents depending on the value of their homes.
If passed, the fixed mill levy override dollar amounts would not increase even as assessed home valuations increase.
“I don’t want higher taxes. I don’t want to pay them. I don’t want my neighbor to pay them. But what I really dont want is for somebody who’s got their kid in our schools to say, ‘I’ve got a long-term sub for my kid because your district can’t hire teachers because the neighboring districts are paying them more,'” D-49 board Vice President Rick Van Wieren said at an August mill levy override discussion. “I think it’s a rock and a hard place, but I think that if you let voters decide that stuff, then they can actually decide.”
District 49
The objective in D-49 is simple: Raise teacher salary by 7% every year for at least the next seven years. That pay raise applies to charter and regular public schools alike.
Every dollar of the $10 million ask will be spent on raising teacher salaries.
“People who really support their kids’ teachers, who really love their schools, can get behind this,” said Lauren Stuart, who is leading a grassroots committee in favor of the ballot measure. “Our culture is great, but it doesn’t compare to a $10,000 raise or a $7,000 raise.”
In its push to improve academic outcomes and achieve the Colorado Department of Education’s highest accreditation status — accredited with distinction — by 2030, D-49 added an additional incentive into the mill levy override. If the district improves academic performance within five years on CDE’s performance frameworks, which acts as an accrediting and accountability system, then the commitment to raising teacher salary will continue even further into the future. That means a 40% improvement in performance.
“We want to give our experienced, excellent educators a reason to stay, and we want to give great, promising new teachers a reason to join the District 49 family,” Superintendent Peter Hilts said in an explanatory video on D-49’s website. Hilts described the mill levy override as “the most string-free money that District 49 will ever see.”
The proposal would cost $4.05 per month per $100,000 of home value, or $48.65 per year. For the average $465,000 Falcon-area home, property tax would increase by less than $20 per month, or $226 per year.
Lindsey Lee, the vice president for community group Neighbors for Education and a D-49 parent, said she worries if D-20 passes a mill levy override but D-49 does not, D-20 could bleed even more teachers, especially those with the most experience, to the neighboring district that will pay its teachers even more.
“Some folks seem to think that we can just nickel and dime our way to a meaningful increase, like we can get rid of $600,000 worth of programs over here, and $100,000 over here,” Lee said. “In reality, I don’t think if people actually looked at the programs that would have to be cut to give teachers a meaningful increase. It’s not just being able to give them a raise. It’s being able to give them more than $1.50 a month. With the leanness of the budget now as I understand it just as a parent, I don’t know where those cuts come from.”
District 20
D-20 ranks last out of 178 districts in Colorado for its per pupil state funding, which accounts for about 48% of total funding alongside local and federal sources. Funds from the district’s $35 million mill levy override proposal would support security improvements and facility upgrades in addition to raising teacher salaries. Money will also go toward D-20 charter schools, and no money will go toward administration salaries.
Right now, armed security officers split their time between multiple elementary schools and could take several minutes driving from one campus to another in the event of an emergency. The mill levy override would instead allow for full-time armed security at each elementary school in addition to the middle and high schools, which already have full-time, on-site security at every school.
Mill levy override funds will also help advance the district’s $300 million backlog of deferred maintenance and capital projects. Whereas the district spends about $6 million to $8 million a year on facility maintenance, industry standards suggest it should be spending $40 million, according to Chief Financial Officer Becky Allan.
And for all staff besides administrators, starting salary would increase by about 9% over three years from $48,800 to about $53,000.
Under current conditions, which include a monthly take-home pay of $3,069 under a starting teacher’s $48,800 salary, district leaders say new teachers cannot afford to live and work in D-20. That starting salary is about $1,400 more than D-49 and $1,200 less than neighboring Colorado Springs School District 11, which approved a record-high starting salary in May for this school year.
Residential property taxes would increase by an estimated $2.28 per month per $100,000 of home value in 2024. According to the district, that comes out to about one $11.40 fast food meal per month for $500,000 homes and one $22.80 large pizza per month for $1 million homes for the first year.
According to district spokespeople, one of the biggest mill levy override questions they hear revolves around financial stewardship and potential money mismanagement: If D-20 managed its money better, then it could accomplish these tasks without asking more of its taxpayers. They note, however, that D-20 has received the Budget Meritorious Award from the Association of School Business Officials International 23 years in a row and the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for 24 consecutive years.
“I know it might sound corny, but we look at this money, and we treasure it. We have a limited amount of resources, and we try to maximize every dollar,” Allan said. “I’m looser with my own money at home than I am with the district because my work is to the whole community and every student.”