Ballot Issue 4A, the $195 million school referendum is going to force many families from their first homes due to the increase of property taxes! Vote no on 4A to keep your homes!

The Summit School District’s plan has been developed only by school employees, contractors, architects and the school board. The board will say that surveys have been used. Surveys get a very limited response. The responders may not have understood the financial impact of their answers.

At two community meetings in August, the district showed that the term of the loan would be 20-30 years at $13/month on a million-dollar home.

A look at enrollments at Breckenridge Elementary School shows that it could be combined into the Upper Blue River by saving $25 million on this plan. Expanding Upper Blue would cost half of the rebuilding cost of the new elementary school. 

Building staff housing is not the school district’s responsibility. The district says they have not looked at partners to develop this first phase. Beginning teachers make $54,000/year. Many residents are paid less than that and they could lose their homes due to the increase of property taxes.

The district failed to apply for a BEST grant from the state of Colorado. This is free money from revenues from the sale of marijuana. The district could have received approximately $10 million, thus, reducing the burden on homeowners. 

The school district has been deficit spending the past three years. The irresponsible spending by the district means their good bond rating could plummet because of this irresponsible spending. This means higher interest payments for bad financial management.

Vote NO on Ballot 4A!