On Aug. 22, the El Paso County Colorado School District 49 Board of Education approved the proposed language for a measure that will be placed on the ballot for the Nov. 6 election.The actual ballot measure language:ìIn order to decrease the current mill levy override rate of 19.081 mills to 18.500 mills, shall school district 49 (El Paso County Colorado School District 49) mill levy override taxes be $16.5 million in 2018 for collection in 2019 and whatever amounts as may be generated annually thereafter by the imposition of a mill levy not to exceed 18.500 mills for the purposed approved by the voters in 2014 and 2016?îIn an Aug. 16 interview, Brett Ridgway, chief business officer for D 49, said, if approved, the ballot measure sets the residents of the district up for the lowest overall combined tax rate since 2005.ìThe ballot asks us to hold the tax rate steady going forward so that we can grow with the community,î he said.ìHaving a consistent tax rate means that the districtís wealth and revenue will only be tied to the property ownersí growth in home value, which includes new construction home values.ìCurrently, every year when assessed values are released by the county assessorís office, we recalculate tax rates according to that value. Going forward, we would prefer to leave that rate constant and let assessed value drive where the total revenue goes.îAccording to the districtís website, the ballot measure asks voters to approve a series of events as follows:
- Convert the 2014 3A mill levy override from a fixed dollar amount of $7.5 million per year to a fixed mill rate
- Combine the 2014 3A mill rate (8.922) with the 2016 3B mill rate (10.159) to a combined total of 18.500 mills instead of the current 19.081 mills
- Keep everything else about the 2014 3A and 2016 3B ballot questions the same
