According to initial results, voters reject the repeal of the sales tax | Pikes Peak Courier

An attempt to repeal the 1.09% sales tax earmarked for Woodland Park schools appears to be going down in flames, according to early election results.

With 65.10% of Teller County ballots returned, Ballot Question 2A – which if approved would eliminate the tax – trailed 56.37% to 42.36%.

Although these numbers come from the Teller County Clerk and Recorder's Office, they are still officially unofficial.

Aside from the unofficial status of the vote, the measure appears doomed.

“I think this is the right decision. “This is really about our children and our teachers,” said Woodland Park School Board President Mick Bates. “Our grades are better; “We are making good progress.”

Revenue represents approximately 11% of the school district's total fund.

“If we lost that $3.2 million, it would have been devastating for us,” Bates said. “I think the City Council’s attempt to put this back on the ballot was a political issue.”

The measure was placed on the ballot at the Sept. 4 Woodland Park City Council meeting by a vote of 4-3.

The timing was strange. The decision to put the tax on the ballot came after the district ranked among the top 10 districts nationally in annual CMAS testing.

“The vote highlights the divide between the City Council and the voters of Woodland Park,” said Mike Perini, spokesman for the Woodland Park Schools Community Coalition. “Our goal was to educate and inform the voters of Woodland Park, and we succeeded.”

It also immediately followed the negotiation, approval and signing of a new intergovernmental agreement between the county and the city regarding reporting requirements.

Among the initial requirements of the agreement, originally approved in 2016, is that the district submit an annual audit to the City Council detailing how tax revenue is used. However, the last time this happened before this year was in 2019.

In recent months, both council members and community members have expressed concern about the district's lack of financial transparency and questioned how exactly funds were allocated.

In particular, the question of how much money was allocated to the district's charter school, Merit Academy, had become a contentious issue since the school was approved for the district in 2022.

After a meeting with both parties, a new IGA was signed March 26, which included a new financial report to be presented by the school district at a City Council meeting and now included funding for Merit Academy.

A preliminary report was presented during a June meeting, drawing dissatisfaction from council members and demanding more detail and transparency from the school district.

The IGA was re-approved on August 26, with the district making further arrangements. Under the new agreement, financial presentations would now occur monthly, include details such as allocations to payroll and charter schools, and be made available to the public on the website.

This most recent amendment was signed as presented by Council, with no changes made by the school district. It was believed that the need to postpone sales tax retention until a November vote was no longer necessary because the City Council's concerns were now met.

After the vote proved that assumption wrong, Bates said council members had not been honest with him and other board members about resolving the dispute beforehand.

MORE ELECTION NEWS

• U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood, led Republican Sergei Matveyuk by 17.5 points in her bid for a second term in the 7th Congressional District, which includes Teller County.

Pettersen's popularity was not supported by local voters, who preferred Matveyuk by a margin of 64.43% to 33.28%.

• In House District 60, early Teller County results showed Republican candidate Stephanie Luck leading Democrat Kathryn Green 68.01% to 31.99%.

Incumbent Luck previously represented House District 47 from 2020 to 2023, when boundary changes redistricted her to District 60, which now includes all of Custer, Fremont and Teller counties, as well as portions of Chaffee and Pueblo counties. Luck has also worked as a consultant, law professor and most recently as a sixth grade teacher.

• Teller County Questions 1A and 1B, which sought to eliminate term limits for the Teller County coroner and assessor, both failed.

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Gazette/Courier reporter Eric Young contributed to this report.