High-performing Cherry Creek schools continue to add students, and district officials say they must continue to add schools and teachers.
The district of 50,000 students in the southern part of the Denver-metro area will ask voters in November to support a $204 million construction bond and an $18 million annual mill-levy override.
The combined tax increase would cost property owners $5 more a month for an average-priced home of $336,000, or roughly $17 a year for every $100,000 of a home’s value.
“We think this is a terrific value for excellent schools,” said Aagje Barber, president of the district’s Board of Education.
“Our enrollment is projected to go up by 1,000 students a year,” Barber said. “That is projected to continue even in a struggling economy. People are still moving in to Cherry Creek School District.”
No formal opposition to the bond and mill-levy package has emerged.
The 30-year bond would build three new elementary schools in the southeastern part of the district, pay for major renovations at 17 schools, and fund repairs and upgrades throughout the district.
Money from the levy override would go for teacher pay and curriculum, and for meeting special needs of individual children.
If the levy fails, district officials say they will have to cut about $12 million from the district’s general fund.
About $3 million already has been cut from the general fund, and the district hasn’t asked voters for a tax increase in five years.
The bond issue would actually not raise taxes at all because the district is retiring debt. The increase comes solely from the mill-levy override.
At the most, the $203.5 million bond could cost taxpayers $394 million by the time it is paid off in 2038.
That assumes the district will not retire any debt within those 30 years and that bonds will be sold at the maximum interest rate of 6 percent.
Cherry Creek is among the eight metro-area districts with bond issues on the November ballot totaling about $1.9 billion.
Cherry Creek’s Long Range Facility Planning Committee initially identified $400 million worth of projects in the district, but that number was cut in half to lower the tax burden, Barber said.
Half of the bond would pay for renovations and upgrades and the other half for new construction, Barber said.
Specifically, the bond would pay for:
• Major renovations at 13 elementaries, two middle schools and one high school that are between 25 and 50 years old. All renovations would total $71.4 million.
• Construct three new elementary schools; build a sixth through 12 grade school that specializes in math, science and technology; and add a student achievement center. Total construction costs would be $94 million.
• Mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades for $22 million.
• Safety, security and technology upgrades for $16.1 million.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
