Swink School District No. 33 bond for the Pat Lesar Memorial Gymnasium and school grounds, repaid by extending a 2007 property tax

Swink School District No. 33's question would levy the property tax for its new bonds "WITHOUT LIMIT AS TO THE MILL RATE, BUT BY NOT MORE THAN $190,000 ANNUALLY." For tax year 2025, collected in 2026, the district's bond levy was 8.814 mills on an assessed value of $22,369,110, set to raise about $197,161, according to the state Division of Property Taxation. The district's 2026-27 budget, adopted June 22, 2026, expects $189,062 in bond-fund property taxes for that fiscal year. Under a dollar cap with no mill limit, the rate needed to raise the same dollars would rise if the district's assessed value fell.

A yes vote would let the district borrow $2.43 million, with a total repayment cost of up to $4.8 million, and would extend the "DISTRICT TAXES PREVIOUSLY APPROVED IN 2007" to repay the new bonds. The $190,000 limit applies to the tax that pays "THE PRINCIPAL OF, PREMIUM IF ANY, AND INTEREST ON THE BONDS" this question authorizes. The question does not say when that tax begins, or whether it waits until the 2007 bonds are paid off in December 2027. The Board of Education would set the interest rate, the maturities and the terms of sale, as the question provides, and the question names no final repayment year. It does not make the borrowing depend on any state grant.

The district's voters decide the question on the Otero County ballot in the November 3, 2026 election.

On December 19, 2007, the district issued $2.5 million in general obligation bonds at interest rates of 4.0% to 4.5%. Together with $350,000 from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and $600,000 from the district's general fund, the proceeds paid for a new gymnasium and improvements to existing facilities, according to the audit. Principal was set to be repaid over 20 years.

At June 30, 2025, $530,000 of principal remained. The audit schedules principal and interest of $188,806, $186,581 and $188,931 for the fiscal years ending June 30 of 2026, 2027 and 2028. Principal is paid each December 1, so the last payment falls on December 1, 2027. In the 2024-25 fiscal year the district's bond fund collected $181,879 in property taxes and paid $185,513 in principal and interest.

The ballot lists the work "TO THE EXTENT OF AVAILABLE MONEYS": replacing the ceiling and roof, asbestos abatement and other upgrades at the Pat Lesar Memorial Gymnasium; new plumbing, electrical and HVAC systems throughout that gym; improvements to the playground, parking lots and sidewalks "TO ADDRESS DESTRUCTIVE DRAINAGE ISSUES"; renovated building entrances for ADA compliance; and upgraded playground equipment and surfaces.

In a post inviting residents to a community meeting, the district described the upgrades as "needed to keep Pat Lesar Gym open for wrestling, weight room, and our rec programs and drainage issues," and pointed to "a possible extension of the current bond with no new taxes."

The district enrolled 299 students in the fall of 2025, compared with 381 in the fall of 2015 and 313 in the fall of 2020, according to the Colorado Department of Education. The count rose by nine from the fall of 2024.

The state's Building Excellent Schools Today program, known as BEST, makes school construction grants. At an April 6 work session, the board reached "a consensus that the BEST grant application could address the Old Gym internal needs, and a bond election could address all other listed needs, with Capital Reserve addressing the track resurfacing and used as match in the Best application."

On June 22 the superintendent reported meeting with the firm NV5 about a potential BEST application, and the minutes record that "Additional eligible project items, including gym renovations and cooling improvements, were discussed." The certified question includes the Pat Lesar gymnasium's plumbing, electrical and HVAC work among the bond projects, and a yes vote authorizes the debt whether or not any grant is awarded.