Renovation bonds for the junior-senior high school in Kremmling, West Grand School District 1-JT

West Grand School District 1-JT would use Ballot Issue 5A to raise its share of a renovation of the junior-senior high school in Kremmling. The question lets the district take on up to $13.3 million in new debt, with a repayment cost of up to $24.97 million in principal and interest. The ballot says the money would pay for capital improvements to district facilities, "INCLUDING" that renovation and the matching funds for a state grant of about $10 million. The debt would be repaid by extending the taxes authorized at the 2006 election "IN ADDITION TO THE 2006 DEBT."

The superintendent wrote on August 19, before the board's vote, that the bonds voters approved in 2006 to build the K-8 school are scheduled to be paid off in December 2026. The district's bond page, which reports the vote, gives the year as 2026.

The question describes the borrowing as "WITHOUT IMPOSING ANY NEW TAX" and lets the district raise the mill levy in any year "WITHOUT LIMITATION AS TO RATE," but only by enough to repay the debt or any refunding debt, or to build a reserve for those payments. No final repayment year, fixed mill rate or annual tax amount appears in the question. The district's notice under TABOR, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, states that the maximum annual repayment will not exceed $998,500 and lists its current debt as $825,000 in principal, with $835,313 left to repay. In tax year 2025, the district's bond levy was 5.318 mills and raised $1,059,781.55, according to the state Division of Property Taxation.

The district's bond page says the bond "is structured to continue the current level of bond-related property tax collections rather than increase them," and lists as a con that it "would continue bond-related property tax collections that would otherwise decline when the district's existing 2006 bonds retire." The district's grant application says the school board "is willing to contribute $500k of our capital reserve fund towards the match to ensure the bond amount will equal our debt being paid off this year." The superintendent's August 19 letter said the application "was strategically aligned to our retiring 2006 bonds."

The school board voted 7 to 0 on August 24, 2026, to refer the question. Registered voters in the district decide it; the TABOR notice lists the district in Eagle, Grand and Summit counties. The question lets the district collect and spend the revenue from the debt and taxes, and any investment earnings on it, "AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE" under TABOR and any other law.

The state's formula set West Grand's share of the project at 62%. The district asked for a waiver and offered 57%, citing declining enrollment and a tax base "largely dependent on one industry," the mining company Freeport-McMoRan. The state's list of Building Excellent Schools Today, or BEST, grants for 2026-27, approved in May and June, carries the 57% share. It ranks the project 15th and recommends a cash grant of $10,045,749.48 toward a $23,362,208.10 renovation, with $13,316,458.62 from the district.

The list marks the grant "contingent upon a November 2026 Bond Election." The ballot says the grant's receipt is "CONTINGENT UPON THE DISTRICT'S ABILITY TO PROVIDE THE MATCHING AMOUNT." The list names backup projects, in priority order, for any awarded project that fails to secure its matching funds.

The district's application says the junior-senior high school serves 169 students in grades 7 through 12 in a building of more than 90,000 square feet that it calls "nearly 50-year-old." The application reports that the state rated its condition "poor" in 2026, that only the shop area has fire sprinklers, that the lower-level gym has no elevator and that the heating mains are insulated with asbestos.

The district's grant application proposes a secure entry vestibule with the main office moved so staff can see the entrance, fire sprinklers throughout and a new fire alarm, an elevator to the gym, accessible restrooms and locker rooms, and asbestos removal. The project would also replace the original mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems, windows, exterior doors and ceilings.