School borrowingNew debt conditioned on a state grant
Lets Kiowa County School District RE-1 borrow up to $4.65 million, repaid up to $9.1 million, with taxes up to $410,000 a year, only if it wins a state BEST grant, for a unified PK-12 campus.
Kiowa County School District RE-1
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Kiowa County School District RE-1 Issue 4A
I oppose Issue 4A, which pledges the Eads district's full borrowing limit, $4,617,934.40 in its grant application, as its share of a $60,441,523.88 project the state lists as a backup.
It takes a district with no bonded debt into debt on these terms: up to $9.1 million repaid on $4.65 million borrowed, no cap on the mill rate, and an interest rate and term the Board of Education sets when it issues the bonds. That repayment falls on property in a district assessed at $23,089,672.
I recommend a no vote on Kiowa County School District RE-1 Issue 4A.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL KIOWA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. RE-1 DEBT BE INCREASED UP TO $4.65 MILLION WITH A REPAYMENT COST OF UP TO $9.1 MILLION, AND SHALL DISTRICT TAXES BE INCREASED BY UP TO $410,000 ANNUALLY, WITH THE INCREASE IN DEBT TO OCCUR ONLY IF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT RECEIVES AN AWARDED "BEST" GRANT (WHICH IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE REPAID), TO FINANCE THE COSTS OF: -ADDRESSING THE DISTRICT'S HIGHEST-PRIORITY FACILITY DEFICIENCIES AND HEALTH, SAFETY, AND SECURITY NEEDS THROUGH NEW CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATING AND CREATING A UNIFIED, SAFE, AND SECURE PK-12 CAMPUS; BY THE ISSUANCE AND PAYMENT OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS WHICH SHALL BEAR INTEREST, MATURE, PERMIT REDEMPTION, AND BE ISSUED AT SUCH TIME AND PRICES (AT, ABOVE OR BELOW PAR), AND CONTAINING TERMS CONSISTENT WITH THIS BALLOT MEASURE AS THE BOARD OF EDUCATION DETERMINES; AND SHALL AD VALOREM PROPERTY TAXES BE LEVIED WITHOUT LIMIT AS TO THE MILL RATE TO GENERATE AMOUNTS, NOT TO EXCEED THE ABOVE AMOUNTS, SUFFICIENT IN EACH YEAR TO TIMELY PAY THE PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON THE BONDS?
A yes vote means
If awarded a state BEST grant, the district could issue up to $4.65 million in bonds, repay up to $9.1 million and raise taxes by up to $410,000 a year to do so.
A no vote means
The district could not borrow on these terms.
The Bond and Its Tax01
Issue 4A lets Kiowa County School District RE-1, the Eads district, borrow up to $4.65 million in general obligation bonds, with a repayment cost of up to $9.1 million, and raise district taxes by up to $410,000 a year to repay them. Property taxes would be levied "WITHOUT LIMIT AS TO THE MILL RATE," in amounts not to exceed those caps, sufficient each year to pay principal and interest. The Board of Education sets the bonds' timing, interest, maturity, redemption terms and sale price. The tax runs until the bonds are repaid.
The district may issue the bonds only if it receives an awarded Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) grant, which the ballot says the district does not have to repay. BEST is the state's school construction grant program, funded from state trust land revenue, marijuana excise taxes, Colorado Lottery money and interest.
A Backup on the State List02
On May 21, 2026, the state's Capital Construction Assistance Board approved its 2026-27 list of projects, and the State Board of Education approved it in June. The list places the Eads "PK-12 Renovation and Addition" 24th, among backup projects listed "in the event an awarded project fails to secure matching funds." A note on the Eads entry says grants "are contingent upon a November 2026 Bond Election." The district requested $55,823,589.48 toward a project costing $60,441,523.88.
The District's Share03
The application's cost summary lists a 34% minimum match, while its waiver form reports $20,331,519.20. Those figures do not agree with its $60,441,523.88 project cost: 34% of that cost is $20,550,118.12. The district sought a waiver under the state law that caps a district's match at the difference between its bonding limit and its outstanding bonded debt. Its application put that limit, 20% of a $23,089,672 assessed value, at $4,617,934.40, reported no outstanding bonded debt and offered the full amount as its match. The grant form states: "Failure to secure matching funds by a deadline prescribed by the board may result in forfeit of an awarded grant."
Consolidating a Five-Building Campus04
According to the application, the district's 195 pupils attend a campus of five separate buildings and travel outdoors multiple times each day for meals, physical education, electives and vocational agriculture. It names the high school classroom wing, the cafeteria and the vocational agriculture building as among the most deficient, citing aging heating and ventilation, outdated plumbing and electrical systems, a lack of ADA-compliant restrooms and locker rooms, and deficient fire alarms. It reports that a state health inspection found the welding stations lacked required local exhaust ventilation.
The plan replaces those spaces with an addition that links the campus into one secure PK-12 building. It keeps the historic elementary buildings and the high school competition gym, and turns the elementary gym, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, into a cafeteria beside a new secure main entry.
The Colorado Department of Education's BEST FY2026-27 recommended-projects list places Eads RE-1's PK-12 renovation and addition as backup project 24, marked as contingent on a November 2026 bond election.
