FAQ
Like most of the community, we are still reeling from the emotional roller coaster that has been this last school year, and the PSD Board’s plan to close as many as 5 schools, consolidate others, and redraw school boundaries. Thanks to a very strong and powerful turnout in opposition to this plan from the PSD students, families, friends, teachers, staff, and many more, the PSD’s Board voted to cancel their current Long Range Planning process (i.e., we are not going to close any schools at this moment).
This was a truly amazing turn of events that showed what a community united is able to accomplish. Thank you to all those who were involved.
While riding that roller coaster with everyone else we heard it brought up by multiple community members, “Why don’t they ask us if we want fund the schools more to keep them open?” That notion inspired us to find a way to do just that. How could we fund our schools and keep the doors open not just this year, but for many years into the future?
PSD still has a funding shortfall, and we would like the PSD Community to be able to breathe and relax in knowing that their schools are not going to be closed or consolidated. This Citizen Initiative is a way to ask the Fort Collins Community if this is a solution to the PSD funding shortfall that they would support.
PSD has seen declining enrollment for several years, and it is projected to see declining enrollment for the next few years. How much of a decline depends upon the demographer you ask, but they all agree that there will be a decline in students at PSD due to declining birthrates in our community. More people are moving to our community, but less of those people are having children.
With declining enrollment comes a decline in funding to PSD due to the way that school funding is currently handled. PSD cannot operate in a deficit, and as the community has strongly voiced, the community does not want to see their schools closed or consolidated. While there is definitely some tightening of the belt that could be done internally at PSD, we know that schools in Colorado, including PSD, are underfunded compared to national averages.
If we want to keep our schools open and our communities intact, then we will need to find a way to help PSD fill its funding gap.
First, we wanted to find a way to fund PSD that would not increase the property taxes in our community and continue to put strain on our affordable housing.
Second, Fort Collins is a community that sees many visitors. Having those visitors help to fund our schools could be another way to keep the funding strain minimized on our local community.
Finally, many PTO’s use local business fundraisers to earn additional dollars for their schools, i.e. eat at Walrus and proceeds go to the school or eat at Mary’s Mountain cookies and proceeds go to the school. Wouldn’t it be great to shop anywhere in Fort Collins and have the proceeds go to our schools?
Going through PSD’s potential closure and consolidation process this last year, we all learned more about how schools were funded, and that increased property taxes in our community does not equate to increased funding to PSD.
The way the funding model for schools works in Colorado, students are funded by a combination of state funding and PSD funding. The state sets the per pupil funding level for students, then PSD puts in its portion of that funding from property taxes, and then the state backfills any amount not covered by PSD. However, since property taxes are so high in our community, PSD contributes the maximum amount it is allowed, and the state covers only the minimum amount it is required. Even if your property taxes go up more, PSD will not receive additional funding from that source.
So, in order to provide PSD with more money, PSD would either need to do what is called a Mill Levy Override (payment above the existing mill levy for a specific amount), or bond the additional funds (get a loan).
OR, you can through your local City Council or a Citizen Initiative to increase the city’s sales tax and direct those funds to the school district. This is currently being done in Woodland Park, North Park, and Aspen.
As property taxes are already high in our community, an increase to those taxes would put even more pressure on our affordable housing issue locally. We thought an alternate way for us to increase the funding to PSD would be through a sales tax.
Unfortunately, due to the education funding model used by the State of Colorado, an increase in your property taxes does not directly equal an increase in funding to your local schools.
The way the funding model for schools works in Colorado, students are funded by a combination of state funding and local (PSD) funding. The state sets the per pupil funding level for students, then PSD puts in its portion of that funding, and the state backfills any amount not covered by PSD. Since property taxes revenues are so high here, PSD contributes the maximum amount it is allowed, and the state covers only the minimum amount it is required. Even if your property taxes go up more, PSD will not receive additional funding they will instead just pay a larger portion of the state set per pupil total funding.
The clearest explanation I have seen is in the video published on the PSD website. It describes PSD’s funding as a glass that is the same size no matter who fills it. So, you can fill it all yourself locally and minimize the amount the state back fills, or minimize how much you pay locally, and how maximize how much the state contributes. Either way you are filling the same size glass.
To gain additional funding (get more than what the glass can hold), PSD would need to request voters to approve a Mill Levy Override (payment above the existing mill levy for a specific amount), or bond the additional funds (get a loan), or have a City Council or Citizen Initiative raise sales tax funds and direct them to PSD.
The marijuana money does not fund schools at the level you might think.
Marijuana tax revenue only accounts for 1% of the State of Colorado’s Education budget, and is only directed towards capital costs.
Ideally it would be great to see every community take this path to increase their sales taxes, and direct those additional funds to PSD. One community will have to be the one to go first. Fort Collins has been and should continue to be a leader in our region especially around issues that align with the community’s values. The Fort Collins community believes strongly in supporting its local schools, and has the ability to be a regional leader for our public education system.
Something else we all learned during this closure and consolidation process, is that the effects on one school in the PSD community has a direct impact on all the other schools in the PSD community. If Cache La Poudre Elementary and Middle Schools were shut down, those students would have required a new home at schools inside Fort Collins city limits. Many teachers and staff at those schools would have lost their jobs, and some of those people are Fort Collins residents, and most of them shop within Fort Collins city limits regularly. Investing in PSD as a whole is in the best interest of everyone in Fort Collins.
The Fort Collins community does not begin and end at the city limits. People from Fort Collins leave the city limits to work at PSD schools. People from outside the city limits of Fort Collins come into the city to make our schools the amazing, vibrant, creative places that we send our kids to school at. People from outside the city limits come to Fort Collins every day to make our business community thrive, they work and shop Fort Collins. Many of those that help make what’s inside the city limits of Fort Collins the reason we love Fort Collins, are not able to afford to live in Fort Collins. The Fort Collins community consists of all the communities inside PSD’s boundaries, and their success is the Fort Collins community’s success.
Yes, the Fort Collins community believes strongly in the benefits of natural areas, and has used its natural areas sales tax to purchase natural areas not entirely in the city limits.
It would be a 1% sales tax increase on all items not already exempt from sales tax in the City of Fort Collins, and food for home consumption (shopping at the grocery store).
A 1% sales tax equates to 1 penny for every dollar you spend.
A 1% sales tax would raise approximately $40 million annually based on current sales.
The funds would be distributed to schools on a per pupil level. Each school would receive an additional $1,250 per student annually.
For a school of 400, that would equal an additional $500,000 annually to their budget.
If revenue raised from the sales tax is more than what is required to fund the additional $1,250 per student, additional funds could be put towards maintenance and upgrades at schools.
If revenue raised from the sales tax is less than what is required to fund the additional $1,250 per school, then highest priority for funding would be given to the schools with the highest percentage of students on free and reduced lunch, and work down from there until all funds are distributed.
The sales tax would last 25 years, until 2050. It would help out multiple generations of PSD students and families. It also provides a long enough timeline to provide PSD with an adequate planning horizon.
First, please make sure you sign the petition to help us get the Citizen Initiative on the ballot.
Second, if you are willing to circulate a petition yourself that would be greatly appreciated. We just need 400 people to get 30 signatures each. This does not have to be something where you are stopping a bunch of people on the street. You can make a goal to get 1 signature a day for 30 days, and you will have done it. Take your kid to the park 30 times, and get one signature. Reach out to all those social media friends and see if 30 of them would be willing to sign in the real world. Say hi to 30 neighbors, and get a signature from each one. Together we can collect all the signatures we need.
Third, direct people to us to sign the petition. Circulating a petition may not be for you. If you are able to share our message to your friends and direct them to us, we are more than happy to meet up with them and get the signature. We just need 400 people to refer 30 friends to us, and we will do the rest.
Fourth, spread the message and support the Citizen Initiative through your social media channels.
Finally, continue to put the signs you created to support your schools and communities and to stop the closing and consolidation process to use in your front yard. Or take them with you while collecting petitions. The fight to keep our schools open and intact is not over, and the same messages of love and support for our schools continues to carry immense value.