Black Hawk tax means payday at Gilpin School
$79,000 from first three months
May 8, 2009, was a historical payday for Gilpin County School District. Black Hawk’s City Council met with members of the Board of Education at 2:00p.m. After comments by elected officials, they handed over a check payable to the school district for $54,916. That amount represents revenue generated during January and February from Black Hawk’s Education Enhancement Tax. Residents of Black Hawk voted last November to impose a 1.5% city sales tax with all proceeds going to educational purposes at the school. It’s been anybody’s guess how much the tax will actually generate, but the estimate for 2009 is $400,000 to $450,000. Black Hawk’s Council came with a surprise for the school district, another check for an additional $25,000 – the March revenue.
School Board President Scott Groginsky began the ceremony, calling it an exciting day, expressing pleasure at the new partnership and thanking those who negotiated the deal. The funds will help students and provide new programs, he said. The agreement between the two entities stipulates the funds be spent for “any costs that are incurred in the classroom, including salaries of the personnel actually working in the classroom for educational purposes.” It specifically excludes administrative costs. The conditions were referenced by Mayor Spellman, who said the education enhancement tax is one of the ways Black Hawk continues to demonstrate support for students of the Gilpin School District. Over past years, Black Hawk has purchased computers, band instruments, books and classroom supplies. They have funded $70,000 in educational field trips, music competition trips, and even some individual trips for students participating in certain programs. Since 1994, when the City began its scholarship program, Black Hawk has helped fund college or vocational school tuition for 81 Gilpin graduates. Until this year, each student was eligible for a $1,000 annual scholarship, renewable for four years. Black Hawk Council increased that annual amount to $1,500 beginning this year. Over the course of the program, the City has funded a total of $400,000 in these scholarships.
If the Colorado State Legislature, the Gilpin County Commissioners and future Gilpin Boards of Education “are mindful and respectful” of responsibilities, the Mayor said he saw no reasons why the educational enhancement tax would not extend for years to come, “and quite literally generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for this school.” The school’s funding stream is tied to the success of Black Hawk, he noted. It will terminate, however, if the school district increases its mil levy (with the exception of certain bond obligations), refunds and extends current outstanding bond maturity, increases the debt service, pays off the bonds in full, merges with another school district located outside of Gilpin Count, or extends its boundaries outside of Gilpin without the consent of the City.
The school’s revenue will also go away if Gilpin County imposes a sales, use or lodging tax or joins any governmental or quasi-governmental entity created to finance transportation or mass transit. Finally, should the state change the way gaming funds are allocated to Black Hawk, resulting in a decrease to the City’s funding, the funds to the school will stop. The City’s goal was to devise a revenue source for the school that could become permanent and still have the ability to increase over time, said Spellman. A second goal was to ensure that tax rates within Black Hawk remain at a reasonable and responsible level, he explained. The conditions cover both.
Senator Dan Gibbs, Representative Claire Levy and Dr. Angelika Schroeder of the Colorado State Board of Education also attended the ceremony. Each praised the Black Hawk/Gilpin School partnership to help students. “It’s great to see community leaders coming together,” said Levy. If the state does attempt to change the gaming fund allocation, “You’ll have ample opportunity to stand up for this educational enhancement effort,” Spellman later told her.
With speechmaking finished, the members of the Black Hawk Council and the Board of Education lined up front and center for the ritual transfer of the money. Beginning at the Black Hawk end of the line, a large $54,916 ceremonial check, bearing the memo “For Educational Purposes Only” was passed from member to member until it reached the School Board’s end of the line. Groginsky expressed the District’s thanks to the businesses and citizens of Black Hawk for their support and generosity. “This is an enormous source of community pride and spirit for Black Hawk,” the Mayor concluded.