Woodland Park task force outlines revenue options as reserves shrink and costs rise

A Woodland Park School District RE-2 task force presented a series of options to the board on how to address mounting budget pressures, telling trustees the district faces declining enrollment, falling reserves and growing operating costs and recommending a staged approach that prioritizes community outreach before any ballot measure.

The task force — composed of board members, former district leaders and community volunteers — told the board it reviewed historical data and identified immediate cost pressures including specialized transportation (about $400,000 annually), athletics and activities (task force estimates roughly $700,000 a year in total program support) and a drop in general-fund reserves from roughly $11 million to $3 million over the last three to four years.

"We have declining enrollment and revenue trends," the board member leading the task force said, summarizing the group's findings and noting that state funding formulas that follow students to charter schools and homeschooling have strained district budgets for high-cost special education services.

Carol Harvey, a task force member who researched municipal sales-tax models, said the district also suffered a major revenue hit when the city sales tax that had funded schools was rescinded in 2025. "The tax was rescinded last year in 2025, and that loss to the school district was approximately $3 million a year," Harvey said.

The task force presented three primary revenue pathways:

- Bonds: Use a capital bond to finance deferred maintenance and roll the district's existing certificate of participation (COP) into longer-term debt. Presenters said the COP carries about 10 years remaining with annual payments in the $725,000'$800,000 range; task force discussion ranged from $10 million as an immediate needs estimate to larger figures tied to deferred-maintenance estimates. Members cautioned that bond sizing drives debt service and affects the district's mill levy over time.

- Mill-levy override: The group modeled levy scenarios using Teller County's median residential value ($475,000) and said a $1 million annual increase would equal about 2.09 mills (roughly $70 per median homeowner per year). Task force members noted an override can be structured as a fixed-dollar amount or as a mills-based levy and discussed the benefit of sunset provisions and clear, specific use language to build voter trust.

- Sales tax (city or county): Task force members reviewed municipal examples from other communities and said a city sales tax dedicated to schools historically brought the district $2.5'$3.2 million a year before it was rescinded. Members discussed legal and administrative trade-offs (who collects and administers the money) and noted a countywide sales tax would require broader stakeholder buy-in.

The task force also urged near-term, non-ballot actions that could reduce the capital ask or shore up operations: pursue free energy audits and, if warranted, energy-performance contracts that use guaranteed utility savings to fund improvements; explore facility repurposing or selective property sales or leases (Gateway building and other underutilized sites were discussed); and seek collaborative service agreements with Merit Academy and other partners to reduce redundancy.

"An energy audit is often free and can identify guaranteed utility savings that pay for upgrades," Jeff, a Schneider Electric representative, said during a presentation on energy-performance contracting. He told trustees an energy audit could be completed in about a month and a full facility condition assessment in a couple of months; EPC financing terms commonly run 10'20 years depending on scope.

Task force members emphasized process and timing: the county deadline to place a county-coordinated measure on a November ballot is July 23, a short runway if the board were to pursue complex bond work this year. Several members recommended forming a new committee immediately to engage a professional poll or survey firm (the task force cited a $17,000 proposal from Mellin Strategies) and to commission energy and facility assessments so the district can show voters it explored other options before asking for new revenue.

The board heard consensus advice that bonds are the most effective tool for large deferred-maintenance needs, while a targeted sales tax or mill-levy override better addresses recurring operating shortfalls such as athletics and programming. The task force recommended any ask to voters be specific in purpose, include sunset language where appropriate and be paired with active community education to rebuild trust.

Next steps decided at the meeting included pursuing the free portion of an energy audit, forming a committee to develop a public engagement and ballot-timing plan and preparing additional facility and financial analyses to inform any future decision on a bond, levy or sales-tax measure. Board members said they will report progress at upcoming board meetings and consider forming a fiscal oversight committee in August or September.

The meeting closed with staff and members agreeing to keep working through the short-term options while building capacity and community support for any ballot measure.