November 5, 1:18 PM
by Todd Engdahl, Colorado Education Examiner

America's economic woes may have helped election Barack Obama president, but they also probably doomed proposed tax increases for many Colorado schools.
Colorado voters generally were not generous to their school districts Tuesday, rejecting proposed property tax increases from Grand Junction to Colorado Springs, and from Denver to Pueblo.

Nervousness about the economy and the future of their own family budgets presumably put citizens in the mood to vote no.

But, many of those same families will feel the results in buildings that don’t get fixed, larger class sizes, fewer teachers and other budget cuts.

Among major districts, both bond issues for construction and renovation and mill-levy overrides for operating expenses were defeated in Adams Five Star (Northglenn and Thornton), Brighton, Douglas County, Grand Junction, Jefferson County, Mapleton (southeastern Adams County) and Pueblo City. Fast-growing districfts like Dougco and Brighton could be especially hard hit by the defeats.

But, voters in Aurora and Cherry Creek said yes to bonds and overrides, as did residents of the St. Vrain Valley schools around Longmont. And Denver voters OK’d a record $454 million bond issue for their schools.

Voters also just said no on statewide ballot measures that smelled of tax increases, including Amendment 59, which would have changed the funding source for state aid to K-12 schools, and Amendment 58, which would have hiked mineral taxes to fund college scholarships.

Amendment 50, which clears the way for liberalized gambling laws in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek with extra revenue going to community colleges, passed easily. No new taxes here, just higher losses by people who can’t stay out of casinos.