City Council debates sales tax

In the 5/16 council meeting, city council talked about sales tax, and Ken Witt and Mick Bates gave a short presentation and answered some questions (you can watch it here). The debate seems to be over whether or not City Council should trust the Woodland Park School District to spend the sales tax money in the manner agreed upon. Witt provided pie charts but little actual detail, something council members Geer and Baldwin both pointed out.

Here are some actions by the district and superintendent to consider when asking whether they can be trusted to spend sales tax money as agreed upon:

  • The district provides transportation services to Merit Academy without making them pay a proportionate share of the overall cost – and when public comment has brought this to light last year, Witt provided misleading answers.
  • The district spent about $100,000 to charter Merit Academy…money they could have asked that school to reimburse but instead had the other schools pay via their funds.
  • The district provides food service to Merit Academy at no cost to that school.
  • The board paid a $275,000 separation agreement to our previous superintendent, Dr. Mathew Neal (this was recorded in the FY’23 general ledger as “July 2022 Supplemental Payroll” with no comments added about who it was for).
  • The district redirected $270,155 of federal grant money without public notice nor board approval – the board had voted to spend this money on the five ‘traditional’ public schools, but it was instead sent to Merit Academy in secret.
  • The board voted to renew Ken Witt’s contract, giving him a raise and potential bonus in the process, without ever performing any job review.
  • In the 5/16/2024 city council meeting, Ken Witt appears to have lied to council, saying sales tax money was being used for ‘innovation’ by paying for the Capturing Kids Hearts program, when the facts show that program is funded by different sources.
  • District CFO Amy Ryan has barely lasted a year…a job posting shows she’s leaving the district already.

Ken Witt and the Woodland Park School District have not earned our trust with our sales tax money.