Douglas County school board to decide in August on a $54 million override

Correction (Oct 3, 2026): An earlier version of this article’s summary and image caption misprinted the override amount as 4 million. The recommendation is $54 million a year.

CASTLE ROCK — Superintendent Erin Kane has recommended that the Douglas County School District Board of Education place a $54 million mill levy override on the November 3 ballot, a property tax increase the district calculates would cost $33.70 a year for every $100,000 of home value in 2027, or $236 a year on a $700,000 home. The board has not voted on that recommendation. The district’s funding website says the school district “is exploring the possibility of placing a $54 million Mill Levy Override (MLO) on the November 2026 ballot.”

In her letter to the community, Kane writes that the board “will ultimately decide whether to place this measure on the ballot at a meeting in August,” and that board members will review community feedback first. The board’s published calendar lists two regular meetings that month, August 11 and August 25, both at 5 p.m. at the DCSD Legacy Campus in Lone Tree. In Colorado, the designated election official for any political subdivision putting a question to voters must certify the ballot order and content to the county clerk by September 4, 2026, 60 days before the election, under C.R.S. 1-5-203(3)(a) and the Colorado Secretary of State’s 2026 election calendar. Both August board meetings fall before that date.

Jefferson County weighs a $135 million package and Littleton a $10 million override

Two other metro districts face the same September deadline. A community advisory group in Jeffco Public Schools, the Partnership for Fiscal Sustainability, recommended a $135 million package to that district’s board on May 11, 2026. The Jeffco Transcript reported that the package would go to voters as two questions, a $75 million general mill levy override for pay, career and technical programs and charter schools, and a $60 million capital mill limited to buildings and equipment. Property taxes would rise by $3.58 a month for every $100,000 of a home’s value, according to Chalkbeat Colorado, which reported on July 7 that the board had yet to vote. Any Jeffco question faces the same September 4 certification deadline. The Kim Monson Newsroom covered the Jeffco proposal in April.

Littleton Public Schools is looking at a $10 million override that would cost about $25 a year for every $100,000 of home value and cover much of a projected $10.6 million shortfall. Superintendent Todd Lambert expects to bring the option to his board on August 13, 2026, when the board is scheduled to vote on whether to send it to voters, the Littleton Independent reported. That vote has not taken place. Lambert wrote to the community in May that the district’s proposed 2026-27 budget does not include a cost of living increase for employees and asks the board to approve a furlough day, which would save the district $800,000.

C.R.S. 22-54-108 caps override revenue and requires voter approval

A mill levy override lets a district collect and spend property tax revenue beyond the total program funding the state formula allows, and C.R.S. 22-54-108 makes that revenue conditional on voter approval and caps it as a share of a district’s total program funding. The school district is currently authorized to collect $139,713,000 in override revenue and says that based on its fiscal year 2026 total program its override cap would be $194 million, which leaves roughly $54 million of capacity in the district’s MLO plan. Against a county assessed value the district puts at $11.4 billion, collecting that full amount would require an increase of 4.78 mills.

Compensation would take $22.4 million and charter schools $12 million

The staff recommendation would put $22.4 million of the $54 million toward a 4% compensation increase for teachers and staff and $12 million toward charter schools, which the district describes as their proportionate 25% share. The rest would go to specialized student programming at $5.1 million, career and technical education at $4.2 million, student programming at $3.8 million, curricular investment at $3.3 million, safety and security at $2 million, and athletics and activities at $1.2 million.

Kane’s letter says the district remains 7% below the average starting teacher salary in the Denver metro area. Teachers have received more than 33% in increases over the last four years, she told Denver7.

The request comes as the district works through a tighter budget. When the board previewed its proposed 2026-27 budget in May, officials put the projected shortfall at $22 million and said a one-time drawdown of the general fund would cover part of it, the Denver Gazette reported. Enrollment has fallen for seven consecutive years, and the district projects the loss of another 467 neighborhood school students, about 1%.

Douglas County voters rejected a $60 million override in 2022 and approved $66 million in 2023

Douglas County voters approved both district questions on the 2018 ballot, a mill levy override and a bond, Denver7 reported. In 2022, voters turned down a $60 million override and a $450 million bond, Colorado Community Media reported. A year later they approved a $66 million override that raised staff pay 9% and rejected a $484 million bond, according to CBS Colorado. Voters then approved a $490 million bond in 2024, and the district’s mill rate has fallen from 22.5 mills in 2013 to 18.1 mills as of April 2026, the Denver Gazette reported.

Mitch Vexler argues districts cannot repay the bond debt they already carry

Mitch Vexler, president and founder of Mockingbird Properties in Dallas, told The Kim Monson Show that districts turn to overrides for the same reason they defease bonds, because the debt they already carry has outrun their ability to service it. “The truth of the matter is these school districts are bankrupt,” Vexler said. “The truth of the matter is the median household income does not exist to pay for the interest on the compound debt that they have created, let alone reduce and or pay off those bonds.” He puts national school district debt at $5.1 trillion, a figure he says his own review quantified and one he argues is light. Vexler has spent the last year and a half building a case against the Dallas County appraisal district, and he has asked the Supreme Court of the United States to take it up. Property owners should be in the room where districts make these decisions, Vexler said. “They should be attending these meetings.”

Kim Monson told listeners to watch their county clerk for local ballot questions

Kim Monson, who told listeners the notification had come from the school district where she lives, said on her show that voters across the metro area should turn all of these requests down. “The answer really should be no on all of these right now,” Monson said. “Taxes are high enough as it is, and everyday people are having to tighten their belts because of inflation, because of high taxes, high fees, and they’re having to tighten their belts. And so we need to be really demanding that these governmental entities, school districts, special districts, cities, counties, and the state tighten their belt as well.” Earlier in the same broadcast she told listeners to check with their own county clerks. “So I’d recommend that each of you reach out to your county clerks to keep an eye on what’s going to be on your local ballot,” Monson said. In Douglas County that office is Douglas County Elections.