Referendum 3A asks voters in the Dolores School District to continue a mill levy passed in 2008 for another eight years.
The levy generates $390,000 per year, and if approved, taxes would stay at their current level until it sunsets in 2016.
School officials said the funds would be earmarked for building maintenance and safety upgrades ($90,000), library upgrades ($21,000) instructional materials and supplies ($89,000), technology ($40,000), and staff recruitment and retention ($150,000).
The mill comes from property taxes. A $100,000 home pays $4.68 a month, and a $100,000 commercial property pays $17.07.
Rural school districts face a budget crisis because the state pulls money from Amendment 23 education funds to balance the state budget. After schools sued, the Colorado Supreme Court recently ruled the state legislature is authorized to continuing tapping into the funds for other uses.
The result – the “negative factor” – has cut school budgets every year since 2009. Dolores’ budget cut has been by $4.7 million in the past seven years. For fiscal year 2015-2016, the school saw its budget cut by $764,467.
Colorado is ranked 47th in the U.S. for funding.