Hayden Joining the Colorado Mountain College District

Hayden School District RE-1 Ballot Issue 4B asks whether to include property within the school district's boundaries in the Colorado Mountain College District. A yes vote brings that property in, and taxable property in Hayden RE-1 becomes subject to the college district's mill levy on the same basis as other property in the college district. A no vote leaves the property outside the college district and its levy. The Board of Education referred the question in Resolution 2026-06, adopted August 31, 2026. The resolution cites C.R.S. § 23-71-128, which requires a majority vote of the eligible electors in the area to be annexed.

The question prints the college levy as currently 3.82 mills, subject to change based on the college district's future yearly certifications, and it sets no end date. As an example, at 3.82 mills, $10,000 of taxable assessed value owes $38.20 a year to the college district. The resolution's title calls the change a commensurate tax increase on properties in the school district, and its recitals say that, if voters approve inclusion, the college levy will apply to property in the district in addition to the taxes already levied there. The same recitals give the college district's levy as currently 4.97 mills; the ballot text in the resolution's Appendix A, like the certified question, prints 3.82 mills. The resolution also states that the annexation is not a tax measure and does not require TABOR's ballot wording, and that the board nonetheless wants the additional college levy referenced in the ballot question.

The question ties inclusion to expanding the availability of low-cost college degrees and certificates, continuing education and lifelong learning, tuition-free concurrent enrollment for high school students, and skilled trades and industry-specific training, on behalf of the residents of Hayden RE-1. In the resolution, the board states that the district will benefit from annexation, particularly in career and technical education opportunities for its students, and that it believes the benefits to students and the community justify the additional tax.

Hayden School District RE-1 Ballot Issue 4A, on the same ballot, asks voters to raise the school district's property tax through a mill levy override. The Routt ballot that carries 4B also carries West Routt Fire Protection District Ballot Issue 6A, which asks to raise the fire district's taxes through an additional mill levy of up to 3.0 mills. If voters approve both 4A and 4B, taxable property in Hayden RE-1 pays the school override and the college district's levy; neither question's text ties its outcome to the other's. The district's September 8 announcement says that joining the college district "will also subject our stakeholders to future property taxes."