Platte Canyon School District Postcard-the District asked PACE Answers

You may have received an informational postcard from Platte Canyon School District this week providing details concerning the consideration of placing a bond measure on the ballot for November 2023. The current agenda for the district school board meeting on August 14 does not provide time for discussion or consideration of placing a bond measure on the ballot. The agenda does note a work session, where no voting is allowed to take place, on August 28, 2023. This begs the question - when will the board consider this bond measure, in public, prior to the September 7 ballot submission deadline?

The District posed this question, yet they failed to provide the information to answer the question:

Here are some considerations:

-Mills are tax rates and are one component of the tax formula. When property values increase, taxes go up even if rates remain unchanged.

-Assessed values have increased by approximately 33%; given that the school district “de-bruced” many years ago, this will result in an increase in taxes. Based on current estimated assessed values, the local tax collected by the District for operations is estimated to increase by over $800,000 WITHOUT the bond mills.

-The total amount collected by the district for bond payments has been decreasing or stable over the last eight years. In 2020 the amount collected was $885,550, by 2023 that amount is down to $719,976. With the proposed language, the amount collected in 2024 will increase to over $1 million.

- If the measure does not pass, the reduction in mill levies will offset the increases in taxes resulting from increased values.

PACE is providing this additional information for consideration so taxpayers can make an informed decision:

** When comparable, amounts show slight differences in prior years from the amounts disclosed by the District. The calculations completed above were based on District mill certifications approved by the Board and currently available on the District website using the same formula as that utilized for the 2024 estimate.