GOLDEN — Residents of the state’s largest school district will be asked to approve a $350 million bond issue and a 4.4 mill levy increase for operating expenses.
“This touches nearly every school in the district,” said Lesley Dahlkemper, a co-chair of Citizens for Jeffco Schools, a volunteer group pushing approval of 3A and 3B.
Former state Sen. Norma Anderson, who shares honorary ballot-issue chairman duties with former Arvada Mayor Ken Fellman, said Jeffco “has been systematically improving on the education front . . . and it’s extremely important to continue that.”
The proposals have critics.
“They are asking taxpayers to build in a district with declining enrollment,” said Ben DeGrow, a policy analyst at the conservative Independence Institute think tank.
Referendum C, a five-year timeout from TABOR revenue restrictions passed in 2005, and a 2007 law that allowed local property taxes to grow should be providing “a lot more revenue” for Jefferson County and other school districts, DeGrow said. Referendum C provided more than $300 million to K-12 education in 2006-07.
When the Jeffco schools’ 2004 $323.8 million bond-issue projects end next year, work is needed to bring more of the district’s 150 schools into the 21st century, supporters say.
“In 2002, a citizens committee identified $7 billion worth of needs,” said Superintendent Cindy Stevenson. “We’re trying to chip away at those.”
The bond issue, 3B, would not raise the property-tax rate since the bonds would replace current borrowing as it is paid off.
A maximum repayment of the bonds is set at $754 million in the ballot language, although Stevenson said it will be less than that.
The district is kicking in $60 million for a total of $419 million. Renovation, remodeling or more classrooms are proposed at nine high schools, four middle schools and 70 elementary schools.
The work would enhance security, upgrade technology, improve school grounds and build two elementary schools.
3A, the 4.4 mill levy increase, would provide up to $34 million for operating expenses. The increase would cost $2.92 a month per $100,000 assessed valuation. For the owner of a $300,000 home, the tab would be $105.12 per year.
The money would provide additional teachers to meet increased graduation requirements, help cover fuel costs that have gone up $500,000 to $720,000 per year in the past two years, maintain small class sizes, offer more textbooks and technology, expand the Warren Tech program to the district’s north area and boost teacher pay by half of a percentage point.
If it doesn’t pass, budget cuts “will hit the classroom,” Stevenson said.
Ann Schrader: 303-278-3217 or aschrader@denverpost.com
