Column | Lewis: Override? What’s an override?
When I heard that there would be a tax “override” on the local ballot this fall, my first question was: what are we overriding? It turns out we are overriding (legally) the law that requires fairness and equity across Colorado school districts. Let me explain.
It started with a simple goal. Equal opportunity. Public education should provide the same high-quality consistent education for all kids in the state. Early on, schools were mostly funded at the district/county level. The problem was that counties across Colorado were widely different. Some were wealthy, some were less so. Some made education a priority and levied high property taxes for schools, while others did not.
So, the state, over time, put in place “equalization” programs. Instead of supplementing each district with fixed dollars based on student numbers, they created a supplement program where they would look at what each school district paid locally and then provide the “top up” to a fixed amount. If the target funding per student was $15,000 and the local community was kicking in $13,000 then the state would give them $2,000. If they were only paying $5,000 then the state would kick in $10,000.
Simple and fair right? The ideal model for socialistic education. Well – not so fast.
Their first mistake they made was to not set any standards for local funding levels. Counties that had already prioritized schools (with high tax rates) got screwed. There was also the problem that costs varied widely in the state, so legislatures manipulated the rules to help smaller districts (that were less efficient) and resort communities (like Eagle County) with high housing costs. The problem with “fairness” was that everyone thought they were getting screwed.
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Their second mistake was that the state decided to keep 100% of local tax increases. When local taxes surged in Eagle County, residents saw their tax bill for schools skyrocket but the local schools effectively received no new funding as the state just reduced their contribution. Effectively, we got screwed again vs. the many counties that pay almost nothing in taxes to support their schools.
As equalization took hold, the “rich” schools were upset. They were having to cut programs like music due to relative budget reductions. Those beautifully manicured athletic fields were now at risk. Technically, the equalization program was working, but for every dollar one district gained — another lost. It’s pretty much the definition of fairness — right?
Well — not so fast — that state had a problem too. They wanted more tax revenue but, with equalization, no county was ever going to pass a tax increase for schools as the effect would be zero.
Enter the mill levy override.
Basically, the state said, OK we are keeping all the current money but, if you increase taxes even more, you can keep it locally. What!? Is it just me? Does anyone see the hypocrisy here? We say all kids should have equal opportunity — normalize/socialize all the funding and then turn around and say, “well, if you pay even more taxes — you can keep the money.” It’s like paying for a first-class airline ticket and getting on the plane only to find out that the airline has a rule that everyone gets the same treatment so you sit in coach — a few minutes later, a flight attendant announces that you can sit in first class if you pay up again even though you already paid.
What even more hypocrisy? Now that these overrides are spreading, legislators passed a new bill called “State Match for Mill Levy Override Revenue” to normalize the very denormalizations they allowed to circumvent their normalization. Over time, this will again reduce the net funding to schools with overrides.
You can’t make this stuff up. Everything about this process is messed up. Funding for Colorado schools is needlessly bureaucratic, wasteful, and unfair to Colorado taxpayers. It aspires to a high moral standard — equal opportunity — while explicitly allowing backdoor bribery to circumvent the rules.
Why write about this? Because, like clockwork, there are two measures on this year’s ballot regarding schools. One is a local mil levy override (Issue 5B) and the other is a statewide tax increase (Proposition NN) “for schools.”
The methodologies and process for school funding is horrible. It is needlessly bureaucratic, wasteful and patently unfair. What should happen is a single statewide mill levy for schools with a simple model for fairness, but that is never going to happen.
Even with my dislike for this model, I still want our kids to get a good education so I will not dismiss the need for a tax increase out of hand. I decided to dig deeper. Which tax increase is better? Do we need one? Both? Are there hidden terms or conditions?
If I were a thriller writer — oh wait, I am a thriller writer — now is where I would give you a teaser to read more with something like, “what I found shocked me.” A more accurate statement might be that things are seldom as black and white as they may seem.
Next week I will go through the details on Issue 5B and the following week on NN.
Mark Lewis, a Colorado native, had a long career in technology, including serving as the CEO of several tech companies. He’s now retired and writes thriller novels. Mark and his wife, Lisa, and their two Australian shepherds, Kismet and Cowboy, reside in Edwards.
