Jefferson County school tax measure 5A headed to recount as handful of votes separate pass or fail

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. Just 377 votes, as of Thursday, stand between whether Jefferson County Public Schools will secure $73 million through ballot measure 5A, which is now headed for a recount.

The school board sought a total of $133 million through two separate property tax increases. Measure 5B which looks likely to fail would have brought the district $60 million to fund infrastructure needs.

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If passed, 5A would raise property taxes for property owners to, among other things, compensate and retain teachers and staff.

Devin Mills has two kids who attend Jeffco schools and also serves as chair of the Financial Advisory and Audit Committee.

"I was hoping that it would be easy and over on election night. We'd be done by 8 o'clock, and that's very not much not the case," Mills said. "If 5A doesn't pass, the impacts to our community and to my kids are going to just be huge."

From previous public meetings, we know not everyone is on board. Chuck Adams, who lives in Golden, voiced his concerns.

"Families are already struggling with rising taxes, insurance, groceries and utilities," Adams said.

With a recount looming, administrators are on standby.

"So what this really impacts is the budgeting for next year," Jeffco Board of Education President Michelle Applegate said.

Interim Superintendent Rob Stein said the response he heard from the community was mixed.

"I heard overwhelming support for our schools. I also heard confusion because school finance and school funding is confusing," Stein said.

If 5A fails assuming 5B has, too Stein said they'll be looking at a minimum of $13 million in budget reductions.

Meanwhile, Proposition NN, a statewide measure, takes money generated above the TABOR spending cap and directs it to K-12 education. That ballot measure passed.

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