Colorado is getting back $104 million that the state planned to spend on schools because local property taxes generated a lot more money than anyone anticipated and there were slightly fewer students than predicted.
Under Colorado law, the total amount of school funding remains constant once itap set for the year, and if local school districts have more money, the state pays a correspondingly smaller amount. This year, school districts raised $97 million more from local sources, mostly property tax revenue, than predicted.
Republicans on the Joint Budget Committee wanted to put that windfall in the general fund, where it would be available for a range of needs in next year’s budget, including transportation. Democrats wanted to put that money in the state education fund. Because the Joint Budget Committee is evenly divided and the two sides couldn’t agree, under state law the money goes to the state public school fund by default. As the name indicates, thatap also money for education.
The disagreement is tied to the big political battle of this legislative session. The state has more money than itap had in a while, and Republicans say itap time for Colorado to make a big investment in its roads. Democrats want to spread the money around to education, housing, and other needs.
Chief legislative analyst Craig Harper told the committee that the location of the money in any particular state fund won’t make a big difference in his recommendations for education spending in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
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