Adams 14 asks taxpayers for help — but what will be the return on their investment?
Commerce City’s schools, which long have struggled academically, also could use some upgrades to their infrastructure. That includes a new middle school. So, they’re asking local voters this fall to approve a hefty bond issue to pay for the improvements. The Adams 14 School District also wants to raise teacher pay. So, it’s seeking voters’ permission for a mill-levy override, as well. All of which will lead to a hike in property taxes.
The district last asked local taxpayers for more money back in 2014 — and was told no. The last school bond Commerce City voters approved was in 2008. As education news service Chalkbeat Colorado explains:
In addition to building a new middle school, which was also the intent in 2014, this year’s $113.9 million bond request, if approved, would pay for security upgrades such as door sensors, HVAC system upgrades, new windows, roofs, and new furniture at many of the schools. The $10 million mill levy override, another version of a property tax increase, would raise salaries for teachers and classified staff.
Teachers and others told Chalkbeat their buildings not only are in bad shape but also affect students’ attitudes.
“If you’re a kid and you go to school and you see water damaged ceilings and smell something coming up from the sewer for the third or fourth time that year, it has an impact,” said Jason Malmberg, the teachers union president in Adams 14 and a teacher at Kearney Middle School.
The price tag? Property tax bills will rise about $26 a month — a little over $300 a year — on a $400,000 home, according to Chalkbeat. It’s a lot more than pocket change for a lot of Commerce City residents; it’s the equivalent of a monthly wintertime utility bill.
Our community’s homeowners, especially those of modest means, rightly will ask what they would be getting for their money. And there lies the challenge.
As we’ve noted here before, Adams 14 is perennially one of the lowest-performing school districts in the state although there have been some strides in the past year. It continues to be known as a place school kids and their families want to leave.
For example, Chalkbeat also pointed out in its news report the other day that, “Adams 14 has one of Colorado’s highest rates of students choosing to attend school in other districts. Of the 8,484 students who live in the Adams 14 boundary and attend public schools, 62% chose to attend district schools last school year. The other 37%, or 3,211 students, were enrolled in schools in other districts.”
Would approval of the bond issue and mill-levy override help Adams 14 turn the corner on their bad rep? Then again, will local voters even be willing to take that chance?