Editor: Suppose the education lobby asked to put a tollbooth at your front door where they would charge you 50 cents every day except Sunday, just to leave home. You'd want to know that before saying yes or no, wouldn't you? Well, that's the tariff on an average homeowner in Cherry Creek Schools if the twin tax and bond measures on this year's ballot are approved, though you'd have no idea of it from the fancy mailers going out, and you'd get only half the truth from supporters' press releases.
So we asked a district parent and experienced financial analyst, appearing here as Number Cruncher, to run the figures for several different housing sizes. Here's his report:
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Caveat Voter: 3A and 3B are Expensive!
The Cherry Creek Schools Board of Education and the citizens asking voters to vote for 3A and 3B have only discussed the cost of 3B, but have not disclosed or discussed the annual cost of 3A and the total annual cost of both measures to our District’s taxpayers.
Measure 3A, the $18,000,000 annual operating override costs an additional 3.964 mills per year and Measure 3B (the $203,500,000 bond question) costs an additional 2.172 mills per year. The total tax increase will be 5.136 mills per year. Wow!
Below you can see what the annual property tax increase will be for you depending upon the assessable value of your home.
The cost is high in these strained economic times. I am very displeased at the district’s failure to inform taxpayers of the cost, and I encourage people to take this into account when voting on these measures.
Assessable......3AAdditional......3BAdditional......Total Additional Home Value.....Annual Cost.......Annual Cost......Annual Property Tax
$250,000........$79..................$43.................$142
$336,000........$106.................$58.................$164 = Average Home
$500,000........$158.................$86.................$244
$750,000........$237.................$130...............$367
$1,000,000......$316.................$173..............$489
$1,500,000......$473.................$259..............$732
(Some differences due to rounding)
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Editor: Jefferson County Schools have their own 3A and 3B, seeking to raise almost twice as much money as Cherry Creek, and taxpayers should also look skeptically on those big tax increases in the current economic climate. Our friend Tom Graham has Jeffco and the daily papers in a tizzy with his wicked satire on "reasons to vote yes" in that election.
Meanwhile back in Cherry Creek, The Villager, principal newspaper serving the area, carried in its 10/2/08 edition an article and a letter from the Board of Education, both discussing ballot measures 3A and 3B. for Cherry Creek Schools. (Not available on their website at VillagerPublishing.com.)
The article discussed the cost of the bond issue (3B) for the average priced home, but did not mention the annual cost of the $18,000,000 override (3A) to the average homeowner. The school board's letter suggested the combined cost of the two measures is only $58 per year, which is inconsistent with the information in the article and with the mill levy increase required to generate an additional $18 million annually.
The article said the assessable taxable value for the average home (presumably including single family homes, condominiums and townhomes) is $336,620. As the above table by Number Cruncher shows, the combined added cost of 3A and 3B for a taxpayer owning an average priced home of $336,000 will be about $164 per year.
Our imaginary tollbooth figure is calculated by taking a year of 365 days, subtracting 52 Sundays, and dividing the remaining 313 days into that $164 annual tax increase, for a daily charge of just over 53 cents.