Mesa County Valley School District 51 Mill Levy Override
School tax increaseOverride starting at up to 7.850 mills, with inflation adjustments
Authorizes up to $23.2 million for collection in 2027 through a school property tax override starting at up to 7.850 mills, with inflation adjustments and no expiration.
Mesa County Valley School District 51
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Mesa County Valley School District 51 Ballot Issue 4A
The question names annual raises "FOR CONTINUED SERVICE" as a purpose, and the district's plan spends $6.7 million of the first year's money on two salary steps, a raise its schedule grants again each year. The question also authorizes the levy to rise in any year with the Denver-Boulder price index. A raise that recurs every year should not ride on a levy that has no end date and may climb with prices.
Part of the money would pay for programs the district runs today. By the district's figures, $1.5 million covers existing safety and security costs and $5.8 million covers existing career and technical education costs, including the CMU Tech agreement. Once the new levy covers those costs, the money that pays for them now can go to other uses. The question lists its purposes only as examples, so the new levy is not bound to them either.
Voters made the 2017 override permanent two years ago. The superintendent now says its $6.5 million has lost value to inflation, with the general fund covering the difference, and that a sunset does not make sense for ongoing priorities. Issue 4A answers that loss with another permanent override on District 51 property tax bills, one indexed to prices, so the inflation he describes could be passed to taxpayers in any year.
I recommend a no vote on Mesa County Valley School District 51 Ballot Issue 4A.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL MESA COUNTY VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT 51 TAXES BE INCREASED UP TO $23.2 MILLION IN 2026 FOR COLLECTION IN 2027 AND BY WHATEVER AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER FROM AN OVERRIDE MILL LEVY IMPOSED AT A RATE NOT TO EXCEED 7.850 MILLS, WHICH MILL LEVY MAY BE INCREASED IN ANY YEAR FOR INFLATION BASED ON THE ANNUAL CHANGES IN THE DENVER-BOULDER CONSUMER PRICE INDEX, AND WHICH WOULD COST A HOMEOWNER AN ESTIMATED $18.09 PER MONTH ON AN AVERAGE HOME VALUED AT $400,000 BASED ON THE ASSESSED VALUE AND ASSESSMENT RATES AS OF DECEMBER 2025 AND DOES NOT REFLECT FUTURE CHANGES IN ASSESSED VALUE, ASSESSMENT RATE, OR LAW, FOR GENERAL FUND PURPOSES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: MAINTAIN AND EXPAND EFFORTS TO ENSURE A SAFE AND SECURE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS AND STAFF, SUCH AS ADDING ADDITIONAL SAFETY AND SECURITY OFFICERS AND SUPPORT FOR SCHOOLS; MAINTAIN AND EXPAND WORKFORCE READINESS OPPORTUNITIES, SUCH AS CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND STEM PROGRAMMING (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATH), BY PROVIDING REAL-WORLD, HANDS-ON LEARNING EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS AT EVERY LEVEL; KEEP AND ATTRACT HIGH-QUALITY TEACHERS BY BRINGING SALARIES AND BENEFITS CLOSER TO THE MARKET AVERAGE COMPARED TO PEER SCHOOL DISTRICTS, AND PROVIDE FUNDING FOR ANNUAL SALARY AND BENEFIT INCREASES FOR TEACHERS AND STAFF FOR CONTINUED SERVICE; AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE SUBJECT TO AN ANNUAL INDEPENDENT AUDIT PUBLISHED ON THE DISTRICT’S WEBSITE; AND SHALL SUCH TAX INCREASE BE AN ADDITIONAL PROPERTY TAX MILL LEVY IN EXCESS OF THE LEVY AUTHORIZED FOR THE DISTRICT'S GENERAL FUND, PURSUANT TO AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 22-54-108, C.R.S.; AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT THE FULL AMOUNT OF REVENUE AUTHORIZED BY THIS QUESTION AND PRIOR MILL LEVY OVERRIDE QUESTIONS SUBJECT TO THE LIMIT ESTABLISHED BY SECTION 22-54-108(3)(B)(VI), C.R.S.; AND SHALL THE DISTRICT BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN, AND SPEND ALL REVENUES FROM SUCH TAXES AND THE EARNINGS FROM THE INVESTMENT OF SUCH REVENUES AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION?
A yes vote means
Authorizes the additional general-fund property tax, possible inflation increases to its levy and collection outside TABOR limits, with an independent annual audit.
A no vote means
Rejects this proposed additional school property tax override.
The Override and Its Inflation Adjustment01
Ballot Issue 4A would raise District 51 property taxes by up to $23.2 million in 2026, for collection in 2027, "AND BY WHATEVER AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER" from an override levy of no more than 7.850 mills. The levy "MAY BE INCREASED IN ANY YEAR FOR INFLATION," measured by annual changes in the Denver-Boulder consumer price index. The question sets no end date. The money would go to the district's general fund, and the question makes the district subject to an annual independent audit published on its website.
The question also allows the district to collect the full amount of this override and its earlier ones, subject to the limit in Section 22-54-108(3)(b)(VI) of state law, and to keep and spend the revenue and its investment earnings as a voter-approved revenue change under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. The resolution presented to the board on Aug. 18, which the board approved, according to The Daily Sentinel, calls an approved levy "a continuing authority" that neither partial use nor "any lapse of time" exhausts.
The added tax at 7.850 mills
This illustration uses the initial maximum override rate.
$10,000 in taxable assessed value
$10,000 × 7.850 ÷ 1,000 = $78.50 per year.
Taxable assessed value is not a home's market value. For 2026 it is about 6% to 7% of the actual value the county assessor sets. A home with an actual value of $500,000 has an assessed value of about $30,600 for local government taxes and $35,250 for school district taxes.
Enter taxable assessed value, not market value. This shows only the added override at 7.850 mills, before any later inflation adjustment. A lower imposed rate would cost less. Other property taxes are excluded.
Annual added tax at 7.850 mills
Enter a nonnegative dollar amount with no more than two decimal places.
District 51 4A: initial levy up to 7.850 mills, with possible inflation increases.
Cost to Homeowners02
The ballot estimates the cost at $18.09 a month on an average home valued at $400,000, using assessed values and assessment rates as of December 2025, and says the estimate does not reflect future changes in assessed value, assessment rate or law. The district's presentation to the board on Aug. 18 put the residential cost at $54.28 a year for each $100,000 of "actual value," or $9 a month on a $200,000 home and $45 a month on a $1 million home; the presentation notes that the exemption for seniors and qualifying veterans or surviving spouses can reduce the cost for qualifying homeowners.
The District's Spending Plan03
The question lists its purposes as examples, "INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO" safety and security, including more security officers; career and technical education and STEM programs; teacher salaries and benefits closer to "THE MARKET AVERAGE COMPARED TO PEER SCHOOL DISTRICTS"; and "ANNUAL SALARY AND BENEFIT INCREASES FOR TEACHERS AND STAFF FOR CONTINUED SERVICE."
The district's Aug. 18 presentation divides the $23.2 million into six parts. It puts $1.5 million toward what it calls existing safety and security costs, and $5.8 million toward existing career and technical education costs, covering a $2.1 million annual agreement with CMU Tech and $3.7 million a year for career programs at the high schools and the Career Center. It puts $6.7 million toward two salary steps for all eligible staff, "the 2025-26 restorative step and a 2027-28 step," and $5.4 million toward a 5% market increase for teachers. Another $2.3 million would expand safety and career programs, including nine security officers focused on elementary schools and a Navy JROTC program. The last $1.5 million goes to the district's three in-district charter schools.
The Daily Sentinel reported that the step money supports the district's steps-and-lanes structure, which raises staff salaries each year.
Earlier District Overrides04
The district's 2026-27 budget still records revenue from overrides voters approved in 1996 and 2004. Voters approved Measure 3A in November 2017, an override raising $6.5 million a year for 10 years for five added school days, instructional materials and training, maintenance, and five technology-support jobs. In November 2024 they renewed that override permanently and approved a $190 million bond, which the district said would not raise its bond tax rate. Superintendent Brian Hill told the board that the 2017 override did not include adjustments for inflation, that its $6.5 million would be $8 million today, and that the district covers the difference from its general fund, the Sentinel reported.
How the District Is Funded05
Hill has said that District 51 ranks 171 of 178 Colorado districts in per-pupil funding, and that local override money comes to $883 per student, $1,142 below the statewide average, according to the Sentinel. He told the board that a property tax increase does not bring the district more state money; it makes a larger share of its funding local.
The board adopted the 2026-27 budget on June 16, 2026. It sets general fund revenue at $254,098,559 and total general fund expenditures, including transfers to charter schools, at $254,385,154, drawing $286,595 from fund balance and leaving a projected ending balance of $63,458,789.
The Board's August Meeting06
Hill told the board a sunset "doesn’t make sense for something like this," because safety, career programs and teacher pay are "an ongoing priority," the Sentinel reported. Board President José Luis Chávez said he had voted against earlier override measures that did not estimate the cost to households, and that this one should draw more support because it is financially transparent.
