Denver Schools Eye Another Bond Despite $975 Million Passed By Voters in 2024

By Nico Brambila | The Denver Gazette

Denver Public Schools officials are already talking about the next borrowing after Denver voters just approved a nearly $1 billion bond 11 months ago.

As previously reported by The Denver Gazette, DPS has grown increasingly dependent on voter-approved borrowing to fund the district’s basic needs.

Over the past three decades, voters have approved billions in bond measures and mill levy overrides.

During the board of education’s finance and audit committee meeting Monday, a finance official discussed “refunding” $67 million in bonds to “save” Denver taxpayers money.

“It allows for the opportunity to create capacity for a future bond election without the district needing to increase the amount of money that we are paying in debt service and raising from Denver taxpayers to pay the principal and interest on the debt,” said Katie Hechavarria, the district’s executive director of finance.

In other words, DPS is reducing its debt now so it has more borrowing room later — a bit like keeping space on a credit card — without raising taxes.

The move is projected to “save” Denver taxpayers $9 million, officials said.

At least one board member appeared unclear about how the “savings” would be realized.

Director Scott Esserman asked how the move would affect the average taxpayer.

“When we say that we’re saving taxpayers money, if I, as just a random taxpayer in Denver, how will this impact me and how will I see this?” Esserman said. “My perception is that this is a down the road situation. I’m not going to see anything different on my taxes necessarily?”

Not exactly.

The “savings” comes from reducing the district’s debt, said Chuck Carpenter, the district’s chief financial officer.

A real taxpayer savings would come from voting down future bond measures.

If Denver taxpayers had rejected the $975 million bond measure in November —Carpenter has said — they could save about $20 million a year in “five or six years.” But that scenario also assumes voters reject future bond proposals — a pattern that has not held in recent decades.

Still, Carpenter called the savings “legitimate.”

‘The break-fix model is much more expensive’

Denver taxpayers have consistently passed bond measures, approving $4.3 billion to maintain the district’s aging buildings and support classroom instruction since 1988.

Under the Colorado constitution, voter approval is required to acquire public debt.

That consistent support every four years has proven critical because DPS lacks a long-term facilities plan, reflecting a pattern of a district that heavily relies on voters to fund basic needs.

Without new bond money, the district would face “hard choices,” Carpenter has said, noting, “We don’t have a revenue stream that would replace the bond right now.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE DENVER GAZETTE