The legislature still hasn’t settled on a final number for school districts despite a hearing on the school finance bill on Monday. Fortunately, the budget cut number is most likely on its way down, perhaps as much as $90 million, according to bill sponsor and House Education Committee chair Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs).
Rural districts on starvation diet
Rural areas are hurting from severe cuts, says Massey. Paula Stephenson, the executive director of the Colorado Rural Schools caucus, said “schools are as lean as we can be. Teachers work across subjects and programs. We’re on a starvation diet. Cuts have long term consequences.”
Westcliffe school district in Custer County is losing 10 percent of its budget. Unlike metro area school districts, Westcliffe gets most of its funding from property taxes which have been declining across the state.
Superintendent Lance Villers reported the district will lose $250,000 in 2011, which will be a “big blow. It’s not sustainable. Our economy depends on tourism and construction. We’ve doubled our free and reduced lunches from 25 percent to 50 percent. There’s no professional development, no supplies budget, increased lunch prices, benefits and pay cuts. There’s going to be a brain drain out of Colorado.”
Aurora Chief Financial Officer, former military man, gets committee's attention
Casey Wardynski, chief financial officer with Aurora Public Schools, painted a similar story. “This situation can persist for years, but students’ education can’t be put on hold while money decides to get here. The purchasing power fo our funding is where it was shen computer power was just beginning and No Child Left Behind was in its infancy.”
Rep. Don Beezley, R-Broomfield, told Colorado Teacher of the Year Michelle Pearson that he would be more inclined to invest in the system if he felt it yielded better results. “What would be the one thing that would really make a difference?” “Give them a classroom with five fewer children,” she replied.
Bipartisan efforts may bring more money to public education
Rep. Chris Holbert, R-Douglas County, reflected that the state may need to raise more money for its public school system, referring to Sen. Rollie Heath’s initiative. Rep. Robert Ramirez, R-Arvada, questioned whether the state’s oil and gas industry shouldn’t contribute more. “Wyoming puts its kids through school all the way through college on revenue from the oil and gas industry.”
Rep. Massey turned away amendments from Democrats to reduce funding cuts in the school finance act at the heaing. He will bring his amendments to the House second reading next week. PEN 4 19 2011
This post was published on April 19, 2011. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.
The school finance bill, sponsored unhappily by State Sen. Bob Bacon (D-Ft.Collins), was panned at the Senate Appropriations Committee hearing today by educators and most senators. Only Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, voiced strong support for the bill that underfunds public education by at least $700 million.
Schools underfunded by $700 million+
The Great Recession has taken a huge bite out of public education dollars due to low income tax collections and falling property values. From 2010 to 2011, the state expects over a $6.5 billion drop in property worth across the state. The plummet affects school operating funds and how much school districts can borrow to build new schools or maintain their current assets.
Tax collections down; kids get $373 less per year
Low tax collections punched a billion dollar hole in the state’s general fund. With public schools taking about 45 percent of GF dollars, budget cuts will hit school districts hard. For the second year, the state has skirted Amendment 23 constitutional requirements. Districts will receive about $6440 per student, or a drop of $373, which is an improvement from earlier in the year when the cut was about $400/year/student.
According to testimony, the state ranks somewhere between 12th and 3rd in annual income. Everyone agreed that the state sits very near the bottom in per child school funding. “This is both a travesty and a tragedy,” said Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, who voted against the bill. “It’s a tragedy because kids are only in 6th grade once. It’s a travesty because as a relatively comfortable state, we just don’t fund public education.”
State tax exemption reinstatements bite school budgets
Jane Urschel of the Colorado Association of School Boards attacked the reinstatement of a state sales tax collection payment to retailers. “It’s a sad day when the choice is between a cut for a child or a tax benefit for Walmart.”
Sen. Pat Steadman, chair of Appropriations, remarked that he felt the legislature put the best bill forward, even though it wasn’t good enough. “That’s like saying that being bitten in half by a shark is better than being eaten whole,” replied Urschel.
Schools doing less with less, says superintendent
Many educators noted the cumulative effects of the cuts. “It’s the year after the year after,” said Will Cooper, superintendent of Cheyenne Mountain School District. “The impact is there, present, permanent. We’ve done more with less for so long to insulate kids from cuts in the classroom. Now we’re doing less with less.
More students + less money + low property values = long time mess
The state expects 805,890 students in 2011-12, a 7213 increase in kids. Children on free lunch will comprise about 25 percent of the total. They receive additional state and federal funding. The grand total of property tax, specific owner tax, and state general funds brings school funding to $5,190,314,789. The state pitches in $3,313,965,279. Local government throws in $1,876,349,509. Total funding will decline $251,288,260 from the previous year, representing a 4.62% drop.
Sen. Keith King, R-CoSpgs, said “it’s time to look at some creative solutions and do some thinking outside the box.” He would like to rebalance the ratio in local property tax v. state General Fund dollars.
With property values down so much, it will be years before property tax revenue will increase enough to bring schools back to their 2008-2009 funding high. Legislators can expect to repeat this hearing next year. By that time, the sharks will have made their choice: take the bodies whole. PEN, 4/8/11
This post was published on April 8, 2011. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.
Finance Committee chair Brian Del Grosso (R-Loveland) doesn't like PERA. He called the state's pension plan a Ponzi scheme in a hearing Wednesday on SB11-076. "It's something we've put people in jail for," apparently referring to Bernard Madoff, the notorious thief from New York City.
Representative Dickey Hullinghorst (D-Boulder) sees the state's PERA program differently. "PERA is like social security, a pool of money that everyone benefits from when they retire."
These stark differences frame the coming arguments over how public entities will fund PERA, the only retirement program for state, county, city, and public education employees in Colorado. Contributions to PERA have varied over the years. In most years, state employees contributed a portion to the plan and the state contributed a somewhat larger sum. If an employee left the state plan, the employee could withdraw his or her contribution, but not the state's part.
SB11-076, sponsored by Representative Jon Becker (R-FtMorgan), continues a payment flip for state employees from 2009-2010 to balance the budget. Last year the legislature increased the employee contribution amount by 2.5 percent and reduced the state's contribution by the same amount. The flip effectively reduced the take-home pay of state employees at the same time they experienced pay reductions from furlough days.
Del Grosso put up an amendment to SB11-076 to include all public entities in the pension contribution flip. Cities, counties, and public school districts will be able to reverse the PERA contribution scale by increasing employee contributions and reducing the government amount by up to 2.5 percent.
Other Republicans on the committee obviously had a heads up that the amendment would be introduced. Some had spoken to Mary Chelmsley, superintendent at Cherry Creek Schools, who apparently said she supported the plan. If districts take advantage of the flip, they will have more money to put into classrooms, and teachers will have less money in their paychecks.
Democrats were left mostly flat-footed. Hullinghorst said she hadn't spoken with any school districts in Boulder, and Daniel Kagan (D-Denver) hadn't checked out the flip with any of his constituents. Representative Acree (R-) told Kagan he'd have plenty of time to check out any problems later. "It's a way we have of helping shore up our school districts. It's a tool in their tool box."
Hullinghorst argued that the flip will affect liability within PERA. Because of PERA's withdrawal policy, an employee contribution is valued at only 70-80 percent of the state's contribution. The contribution flip increases the employee investment but reduces the value of the total contribution. The result lengthens the time needed to keep the system fully funded.
"This will create a legal nightmare," said Hullinghorst. "It will shift to governments who don't make the flip the extra cost of funding those who do make the shift."
When asked if he supported the amendment, Becker, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, said no and yes. As a regular representative, he likes the idea of giving school districts more flexibility. As a member of the JBC, he has to "stick to that little group and oppose the amendment."
Public employees must feel like they're playing whackamole. Jefferson County School District employees just renegotiated a contract that reduces their take-home pay by 3 percent. If the amendment passes and the school board decides to flip, Jeffco employees could take an additional 2.5 percent hit to their daily livelihood and lose the 2.5 percent district contribution to their retirement at the same time.
Are state employees lucky to have jobs, as some Republicans argue, or are public employees bearing the brunt of state budget cuts, as Democrats declare. At some point, legislators will have to deal with the larger issues of the value of public employees, competition for competence, and public employee compensation. PEN St. Paddy's Day
This post was published on March 17, 2011. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.
The State Land Board, a lesser known state enterprise with a mission to manage Colorado's millions of acres in land surface and mineral rights for public schools, held an oil and gas auction on February 17. After a long morning of desultory bids, the Board lined up a five-cherry jackpot from Weld County, generating $10,994,129 in lease revenue from the Denver-Julesburg basin.
Unfortunately, Park County ginned up only $39,947.50, with many parcels going for the minimum $1.50/acre bid. Among various inferences, two possible implications arise: either Park County doesn’t have much oil and gas, or a few oil and gas companies are going to hit it big.
Land Board decision to auction Park County parcels controversial
The Board’s decision to auction parcels in Park County for oil and gas leases is controversial. The headwaters of the South Platte, a major source of Denver’s water supply, carve through the County, ending up in water storage reservoirs such as Spinney Mountain, Antero, and Eleven Mile.
The South Park Coalition and Be the Change, a state-wide organization focusing on economic, health, and environmental issues, objected to the auction of Park County parcels. They assert that the pervasiveness of the County’s uranium, mixed with the fracking and refracking necessary to dislodge the oil and gas stuck in the Niobrara shale rocks from 6800-11,000 feet down, may contaminate the metro area’s water supply and ruin the South Park landscape. The volume of water needed for fracking may also affect the Frontrange’s current water problems.
In one fell swoop, Park County concentrates three of the biggest issues facing the state and the country: oil and gas development, water quality and quantity, and public school financing.
Park County is metro area entrance to South Park and southern Colorado
From the Denver metro area, Park County is the entry point to central and southern Colorado’s valleys and mountain ranges. With the Mosquito mountain range to the west, and the backside of the Frontrange to the east, Park County shows off spectacular natural scenery and wildlife. It contrasts sharply with Weld County’s flat, broad fields of wheat and corn, and its suburban development sprouting around Greeley west toward Longmont, Loveland, and Ft. Collins.
Weld County's Niobrara shale formation stretches into Park County
The Wattenburg oil field, which covers much of Weld County, now holds over 20,000 oil and gas wells. In 2005 the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission increased allowable wells per 160 acres from five to eight – a 60 percent boost. The Wattenburg field is about 50 miles x 50 miles.
The Wattenburg "is a stealth field," said Theo Stein of Resource Media, an environmental communications firm in Boulder, to the Rocky Mountain News in 2008. "It has developed largely out of most people's attention, and a tremendous amount of wells have popped up out of anyone's radar."
Park Co. residents fear under the radar development
Some residents of Park County are afraid that the same “under the radar” impact will occur there. “As a landowner I have concerns about impacts to water and wildlife,” said Eddie Kochman, former state aquatic wildlife manager for Colorado Department of Wildlife and South Park area landowner. “One thing is for sure, there has to be more coordination between local government, state agencies, water providers, and landowners before additional development occurs.”
According to the Royal Gorge Office of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Park County contains approximately 207,000 acres of federal mineral lands, with about 51,000 acres already leased. State lands bring the mineral lands acreage up to about 300,000, with 83,000 sold by lease for oil and gas development, most at the minimum or low price of $1.50-$2/acre.
Land Board bids in Park at minimum, Weld at $3300/acre
Weld county prices at the February land auction went up to $3300/acre, based on directional and horizontal drilling in the Niobrara formation, roughly 5500’ to 7500’ below the Wattenburg field. Drillers will probably use the same techniques in Park County, including the fracking and refracking necessary to bring up the oil and gas.
Synergy Resources Corporation was a big buyer of the cheap Park County leases in February. Its March 2011 report says that the company “is at the forefront of applying new technology to improve drilling efficiency, to reduce costs and to maximize well production… New well completion and stimulation techniques can triple the extraction of reserves over the life of the well.”
Oil and Gas companies see big profits from the Niobrara
To highlight the enthusiasm of the oil and gas industry over the Niobrara formation underneath Weld County, Synergy cites Andarko’s plans for 2011: 470-500 vertical wells, 20-30 horizontal wells, and 500+ refracking zones.
Park County is a long way from that kind of development, but the oil and gas opportunity is what draws oil companies to any location, and assessing that potential is now just starting in South Park. The state and BLM may have jumped the gun by selling those 83,000 acres in leases at a low price without knowing the upside dollar value.
El Paso Oil and Gas testing, may drill 300 wells in Park Co
El Paso Oil and Gas intends to test four formations beneath Park County, not just the Niobrara. The company hopes that it will increase its drilling and monetary success by expanding its exploration at a time when technology is making more difficult drilling profitable.
El Paso’s prospectus for one unit in Park County, the Bald Hill Unit, indicates that full development will take about 30 years, and this unit represents less than half of what already has been leased in the Park.
If El Paso finds success in the Bald Hill Unit, it intends to drill 300 wells, according to David Wheeler, El Paso's Rocky Mountain Business Manager at a permit hearing in Park County. “The water requirements for first-stage fracking of these wells will be approximately 46,000 acre feet – 20 fracks x 2.5 million gallons of water per frack x 300 wells. These numbers produce 1500 acre feet of water used annually, enough for the domestic needs of 15,000 people,” says Phil Doe, Be the Change member and retired policy manager at the federal Bureau of Reclamation.
Second tier drillers will jump in after testing
Synergy plans on “leaving the Niobrara potential behind pipe until the best practices are vetted out by the larger players.” This strategy means that sometime over the next 30 years, secondary players will jump into development, placing additional demand on water resources while, at the same time, affecting wildlife and landscape in South Park.
Fracking needs lots of water, maybe 100,000 people's worth
Doe believes that overlapping development in the remaining leased land in the area might double water requirements for first-stage fracking. But the shale requires multiple fracking to retrieve maximum resources, and with wells working for 20 to 30 years, and fracking occurring every 3 to 4 years per well, overall water requirements may be as high as “500,000 acre feet, or a minimum annual depletion equal to the domestic needs of over 100,000 people.”
Finally the issue of water quality arises as the 500,000 acre feet used for fracking has to go somewhere. Much of that water comes back up the pipe to the surface, rather like the acid reflux of heartburn. This water is known as “product” and has to be disposed of, as it is contaminated with the chemicals used in fracking and by the ancillary minerals in the shale formations knocked about as a consequence of the drilling.
Park Co water may sparkle, from uranium
Since South Park has mineable uranium all about, it is likely that the wastewater will contain uranium, while, according to Denver Water’s chief engineer’s testimony at the state legislature in 2010, the city has no way, at the present time, of treating water for uranium contamination.
The drilling may not just turn Park County into Weld County, but also into Rocky Flats, with wastewater contaminated by uranium stored in place, then hauled away to public treatment facilities that have yet to be built to treat this type of contaminated water.
Hudak's SB11-029 brings legislature's Ed committees to the problem
The Land Board, among other state and federal agencies, has to decide how it will continue to approach their oil and gas leases in South Park while meeting its mission to build financial resources for school districts. State Senator Evie Hudak is sponsoring SB11-029, the State Land Board Annual Report bill, to require the Board to report its work to the House and Senate Education Committees as well as the Agriculture committees.
The bill will enable the Education Committees to see how the Land Board has maximized funds for schools, but in today’s environment, an equally serious issue is at what cost. The Land Board, in its multitudinous responsibilities, will have some tough weighing and measuring to do.
Land Board sees experts argue over evidence
If the Board’s meeting before the February auction is any indication, it receives contradictory advice and information from many sources – public, civic, corporate, and personal. Members of the Board are appointed based on their background as leading citizens, not for their knowledge of geology, physics, chemistry, water quality, or hydrology. Similarly, legislators lack the specific science knowledge that these complicated drilling activities require.
School funding evidence clear: not enough money!
The Governor in his 2011-12 budget has reduced school funding an additional $332 million, causing havoc across districts in the state. Staff will be laid off, salaries cut, programs dropped, and class sizes increased.
Meanwhile, oil and gas exploration and drilling to meet the country’s voracious energy needs will grow as fast as possible, with its corollary costs to the environment. Niobrara oil and gas drilling requires massive use of water resources here in Colorado, the semi-arid state, and can contaminate those waters, requiring technology that has yet to be created to clean up the mess.
Post columnist Carroll weighs in, citing one well in Las Animas Co
Denver Post columnist Vince Carroll, in a recent Saturday essay, cited an employee of the state, a Ph.D. in chemistry, for his excellent work in testing a well in Las Animas County for contamination from oil and gas drilling. The test results showed the well was not contaminated by the drilling, exulted Carroll.
Carroll's research drills down 1 inch, leaving 7000+ feet unexplored
Left completely unexplored by the columnist are the larger implications of fracking and refracking – and the fact that the state will need many more Ph.D’s in chemistry, chemical engineering, geology, physics, hydrology, wildlife and hazardous waste management, among other fields, to keep up with the increasingly sophisticated technologies used to pull up that oil and gas.
Carroll also did not address the cost to the state of adding the staff to do this work, or whether state employees, whom he calls “drones,” will have the necessary resources to manage this vast enterprise. He also doesn’t address whether any young chemists will ever enter state employment as salaries have steadily declined due to income cuts and furlough days. PEN 3 8 11
This post was published on March 8, 2011. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.
Chris Holbert (R-Highlands Ranch) is irresistibly cheerful. He presented HB11-1205, the Concealed Handgun Exception bill, with a big smile, which became almost Cheshire cat-like when he asked an aide to do an open weapon/concealed weapon show for the House Judiciary Committee.
Show and tell reveals concealed fake weapon
Judiciary chair Bob Gardner (R-ColoSpgs) backed his chair up and said that the committee doesn't generally permit show and tell, but allowed the show to go on. Holbert's aide proceeded to reveal a phony concealed weapon under her coat jacket, showed how the weapon would likely be carried in the open, and then concealed the fake weapon again.
According to Holbert, gun owners need the right to carry concealed handguns rather than open carry because open carry creeps people out. Apparently, few people are thrilled to see a weapon openly displayed in a park with kids around, but if people don't know the weapon is there, everything is copacetic.
Fear of concealed weapons lowers crime, says supporters
The committee discussed the effectiveness of handguns, concealed or open, as crime discouragers. Bob Edmundston of the Firearm Coalition of Colorado says that criminals do a risk assessment before committing crimes, and that they will avoid a site where guns are obvious.
Police chiefs like to know who's packing
Anne Marie Jensen, speaking for the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police, said that the current concealed weapon certification program works well, as it has refused permits to 1200 people who "assumed they were eligible to carry, but weren't." She said that fewer than 1% of gun deaths are a result of self defense, but that the majority of gun deaths are homicide, suicide, or accidents.
Representative Pete Lee (D-Manitou) said that public safety is his greatest concern. Dudley Brown of the Colorado Organization of Gun Owners sharply reprimanded Lee, saying "your number one responsibility is to the constitution."
Some legislators carry concealed, though not to public schools
If Lee sticks close to some of his fellow legislators, he should feel safe, because many of them carry concealed handguns, except to public schools where it's illegal. Concealed carry to private schools is okay. Claire Levy noted, "we don't have statistics about homicide with concealed weapons. The constitution allows a person to carry a gun, and there shouldn't be any restrictions on that, but in modern America, it's largely concealed carry, with many legislators doing that."
Apparently there's a paucity of detailed information on the impact of concealed handguns on crime, suicides, and accidents, because states are prevented from collecting such evidence.
Concealed carry encourages law abidingness in citizens
Holbert believes that people will act more responsibly if they can carry their weapon concealed, on the premise that if they lose their temper with a weapon, there will be hell to pay. He further stated that "women have an advantage in carrying concealed," because others don't expect women to have weapons.
No more coat tax, says Holbert
Holbert sees the $152.50 cost of a concealed carry permit as a "coat tax," because he can carry a weapon almost anywhere in the open for free. "This bill will allow law abiding citizens to carry a handgun without having to take a background check or pay a fee to the local sheriff." "I can carry a weapon concealed in my home and in my car with no permit, but as soon as I get out of my car and put a coat on over the gun, it's concealed and I'm breaking the law."
The bill passed the House Judiciary Committee 8-3, primarily on a gender based vote, with three of four women legislators voting against the bill, and one woman, BJ Nikkel (R-Loveland), joining the men.
This post was published on February 27, 2011. Permalink ». Comments are disabled at this time.
