Colorado Spending Transparency

“..we are a board very concerned about transparency and oversight — about letting our constituency know what it is we are doing,” Greeley Evans District 6 school board member Judy Kron said at a meeting last night.

Really?

Perhaps Kron should read COST.  Then she would know that her fellow school board member Bob Stack testified against school spending transparency just a few months ago.

The Greeley school board voted last night to ask taxpayers to shell out an additional $16 million for textbooks, academic programs and buses.  The question will be on the ballot in November.

While the school board won’t provide taxpayers with detailed spending information, the board did approve a resolution to create an “accountability committee” charged with monitoring and reporting how the additional tax dollars are spent.

According to the Greeley Tribune print edition, Kron went on to say:

It would be very nice if we could say ‘trust us,’ and you would do so.  This isn’t an age of elected officials being trusted just because we are elected officials. So we want to do all we can to assure you that we will spend the dollars as you have asked us to.

Point of clarification — the school board is the one doing the asking, not taxpayers.

COST translation on Greeley District 6 tax hike: More tax dollars. More bureaucracy. No transparency.

COST advice to district residents: No taxation without information.

Greeley Evans District Six, the largest Colorado school district ever to be placed on accreditation watch, wants more money.  According to the Greeley Tribune the district is asking for a mill levy override to fund $32 million in various projects. 

With a bad economy, a mill levy override is going to be a tough sell.  But also working against the district is its lack of transparency.  District Six school board member Robert Stack was part of the education lobby that testified against SB 57 the Public School Financial Transparency Act, which was defeated in the House Education Committee.  He did say in testimony that he represented himself and not the entire school board.  However, the Colorado Association of School Boards, which lobbies at the state capitol on behalf of Colorado school boards, actively worked to kill SB 57.

COST’s suggestion to District Six: show respect for stakeholders and taxpayers. Show them how you are spending their money before asking for more. 

Remember No Taxation without Information!