Weld RE-1 Override for Teacher and Staff Pay

Ballot Issue 4B would raise property taxes in Weld County School District RE-1 by $1.3 million a year. The district would set the override mill levy at the rate that produces that amount. The money would go into the general fund, on top of the property taxes the district would otherwise levy for that fund. The question names one purpose: recruiting, training and retaining teachers and staff by raising salaries and wages closer to the market averages for surrounding school districts. The question sets no end date, and the new tax counts as a voter-approved revenue change.

The district's override web page prints a different version, with taxes "increased up to $1.3 million annually" to make pay "more competitive with other Colorado school districts." The ballot carries the board's wording.

The district says enrollment has dropped for five years and, because state funding follows enrollment, it has lost roughly $3.8 million since 2020 and expects further declines. It says its starting teacher pay is the lowest among its peer districts and links that to high turnover. A compensation review that Pure HR Solutions presented to the board on January 21, 2026 found that the certified salary schedule begins approximately $6,000 below the market average. The superintendent's August 2026 newsletter says the board chose the override after community polling that summer and put off a proposed bond until the 2028 presidential election.

According to the district, voters approved an override in November 2001 that added $2,073,000 to general fund revenue for salaries and instructional programs, and another $1,831,000 in November 2012 to restore staff compensation and critical programs. The district's mill levy certification for property tax year 2025 lists $3,896,893 from voter-approved overrides at 2.261 mills, within a total district levy of 15.382 mills.

Based on current property values, the district estimates that the oil and gas industry would fund more than 60% of the new tax and homeowners less than 10%, and it puts the cost for a $400,000 home at $1.77 a month. It calls the estimates preliminary and subject to change. RBC Capital Markets showed the board in October 2025 that industrial property, oil and gas property and state-assessed property together made up 88% of the district's assessed value on average from 2019 to 2025, with the 2025 value preliminary. On August 19, 2026, the district's finance director reported that Moody's had raised the district's bond rating from A3 to A2 that year, and that Moody's names the "concentration of oil & gas industry as our largest tax base contributors" as one of the district's credit challenges.