During a council meeting last week, council members were visibly frustrated after they received a one-page summary from WPSD showing the six months of spending. The original summary showed money spent on replacing security cameras, software programs, and salaries for teachers at Summit Elementary School, Woodland Park Middle School, and Gateway Elementary, which closed at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year.
— Read on www.koaa.com/advocates-of-accountability/woodland-park-city-council-threatens-to-cut-sales-tax-funds-to-school-district-citing-transparency-concerns
Tag Archives: sales tax
Woodland Park City Council livid about school district report | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com
Instead of the detailed accounting concerning the 1% sales tax earmarked for the Woodland Park School District that had been negotiated in the intergovernmental agreement between the two entities, the district sent a one-page summary to meet the required Jan. 31 deadline.
The council was livid.
— Read on gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/city-council-livid-about-school-district-report/article_f6a06d86-e566-11ef-b2cb-0b82fce353cd.html
Ordinance to eliminate school sales tax defeated | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com
An ordinance to eliminate the 1.09% sales tax earmarked for Woodland Park Schools was defeated during the July 18 meeting of the Woodland Park City Council.
— Read on gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/ordinance-to-eliminate-school-sales-tax-defeated/article_860899c2-45de-11ef-bd2e-930006274527.html
City council, school board discuss sales tax continuation | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com
Many expected fireworks to come from the joint work session between the Woodland Park City Council and the Woodland Park School District RE-2 on April 29.
— Read on gazette.com/pikespeakcourier/city-council-school-board-discuss-sales-tax-continuation/article_885bd04a-d7ed-11ee-9c20-5bb6d17ebcc0.html
City council, school board to finally meet over IGA | Pikes Peak Courier | gazette.com
Councilmember Carrol Harvey had expressed frustration at previous meetings with what seemed to be foot dragging on the part of the school board to come to the table concerning the IGA.
Updates on Intergovernmental Agreement on use of sales tax revenue by the school district
In last Thursday’s city council meeting, the council discussed the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) regarding use of sales tax funds by the Woodland Park school district. You can watch it in the council meeting recording, starting about 1:26:40. They’ve been seeking to update the IGA since it’s been more than five years since it was last updated. Council felt like the district had stonewalled them on this issue, so is offering an ultimatum, where if an agreement on an updated IGA cannot be reached, the council would vote on whether to end the 1.09% sales tax dedicated to the schools.
Since that meeting, the school board has agreed to meet to discuss this issue, and that public meeting is scheduled for 5:00 on February 29th in the city council chambers. It will be live-streamed , but public comment is not planned.
The next city council meeting is scheduled for Thursday February 15th; I suspect they’ll be talking about this more as council had directed the city attorney to draft a resolution or ordinance regarding this, for the event where an agreement could not be reached.
With no public comment in the work session on the 29th, it’s important to get any comments to council ahead of that time. Contact info for the council members can be found on the city’s website.