2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 22 - Education
Financing of Schools - Continued
Article 54 - Public School Finance Act of 1994
§ 22-54-108.5. Authorization of additional local revenues for full-day kindergarten - definitions

(1) (a) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, effective July 1, 2007, any district that chooses to raise and expend local property tax revenues in excess of the district's total program, as determined in accordance with section 22-54-104, and in addition to any property tax revenues levied pursuant to sections 22-54-107 and 22-54-108, may submit the question of whether the district should be authorized to raise and expend additional local property tax revenues, thereby authorizing an additional levy in excess of the levy authorized under sections 22-54-106, 22-54-107, and 22-54-108, to provide funding for excess full-day kindergarten program costs in the district for the then-current budget year and each budget year thereafter. The question authorized by this paragraph (a) may also include a question of whether to impose an additional mill levy of a stated amount and limited duration to meet the initial capital construction needs of the district associated with the establishment of a full-day kindergarten program. If a mill levy for capital construction needs associated with the district's full-day kindergarten program is approved for more than one year, the board of education of the district may, without calling an election, decrease the amount or duration of the mill levy in subsequent years. The questions authorized by this paragraph (a) shall be submitted at an election held in accordance with section 20 of article X of the state constitution and title 1, C.R.S.

(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, effective July 1, 2007, upon proper submittal to a district of a valid initiative petition, the district shall submit to the eligible electors of the district the question of whether the district should be authorized to raise and expend additional local property tax revenues in excess of the district's total program, as determined in accordance with section 22-54-104, and in addition to any property tax revenues levied pursuant to sections 22-54-107 and 22-54-108, thereby authorizing an additional levy in excess of the levy authorized under sections 22-54-106, 22-54-107, and 22-54-108, to provide funding for excess full-day kindergarten program costs in the district for the then-current budget year and each budget year thereafter. The question authorized by this paragraph (b) may also include a question of whether to impose an additional mill levy of a stated amount and limited duration to meet the initial capital construction needs of the district associated with the establishment of a full-day kindergarten program. If a mill levy for capital construction needs associated with the district's full-day kindergarten program is approved for more than one year, the board of education of the district may, without calling an election, decrease the amount or duration of the mill levy in subsequent years. The questions authorized by this paragraph (b) shall be submitted at an election held in accordance with section 20 of article X of the state constitution and title 1, C.R.S. An initiative petition under this paragraph (b) shall be signed by at least five percent of the eligible electors in the district at the time the petition is filed.

(c) If a majority of the votes cast in an election held pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection (1) are in favor of the question, an additional mill levy shall be levied each year, and the revenues received from the additional mill levy shall be deposited in the full-day kindergarten fund of the district created in section 22-45-103 (1) (h). If the district obtained voter approval for an additional mill levy to meet the capital construction needs associated with the district's full-day kindergarten program, the revenues generated from that mill levy shall be deposited in the capital construction account of the district's full-day kindergarten fund.

(d) For purposes of this section, "excess full-day kindergarten program costs" means the costs that exceed fifty percent of the district's per-pupil revenues for the budget year in which the election is held, multiplied by the number of pupils enrolled or expected to enroll in the district's full-day kindergarten program.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 20 of article X of the state constitution that allow districts to seek voter approval for spending and revenue increases, the provisions of this subsection (1) shall limit a district's authority to raise and expend local property tax revenues in excess of the district's total program as determined in accordance with section 22-54-104.

(2) A district that obtains voter approval pursuant to this section to impose an additional mill levy to fund excess full-day kindergarten program costs in the district shall:

(a) Establish its full-day kindergarten program using evidence-based research demonstrating the types of programs and methods appropriate for a full-day kindergarten program;

(b) Not limit the ability of parents enrolling a child in the district to enroll the child in a half-day kindergarten program; and

(c) Not be authorized to serve children through a full-day kindergarten component of the district's preschool program established pursuant to article 28 of this title.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, a district that provides and funds a full-day kindergarten program with moneys generated by the imposition of an additional mill levy as authorized by this section may charge tuition to a pupil who does not reside in the district for the excess full-day kindergarten program costs; except that such tuition charge shall not exceed the actual cost for providing the program as determined by the district providing the full-day kindergarten program.