An attempt to repeal the 1.09% sales tax earmarked for Woodland Park schools went down in flames on Tuesday.

Woodland Park voters rejected Ballot Question 2A — the approval of which would have ended the tax – by a margin of 56.89% to 43.11%.

“I think that’s the right decision. This genuinely is about our kids and our teachers,” Woodland Park School Board President Mick Bates said. “Our grades are up; we’re making good progress.”

The revenue amounts to about 11% of the school district’s general fund.

“If we were to lose this $3.2 million dollars, it would have been devastating to us,” Bates said. “I think that effort by the City Council to put this back on the ballot was a political issue.”

Woodland Park Mayor Kellie Case, who voted against placing the measure on the ballot, said the vote to retain the tax charts a new path for the district and the city.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the district and the school board be successful, in terms of the new intergovernmental agreement,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the district be successful – or not. It’s up to the school board.”

The vote to keep the tax shows that the public wants to see the district to be successful, she said.

“I hope to see better collaboration,” she said.

The measure was placed on the ballot by a 4-3 vote at the Sept. 4 meeting of the Woodland Park City Council. The timing was odd. The decision to put the tax up for a vote came on the heels of the district scoring among the top 10 districts statewide in the annual CMAS tests.

“The vote shows the divide between City Council and the Woodland Park voters,” Registered Agent for the Woodland Park Schools Community Coalition Michael Perini said. “Our goal was to educate and inform Woodland Park voters and we successfully accomplished that.” It also immediately followed the negotiation, approval and signing of a new intergovernmental agreement between the district and the city concerning reporting requirements.

Among the initial requirements of the agreement, which was originally approved in 2016, is the district presenting an annual audit to City Council detailing how the tax revenue is being spent. The last time this had occurred before this year, however, was in 2019.

In recent months, both councilmembers and community members expressed concerns over the district’s lack of financial transparency and questioned how exactly funds have been allocated.

Specifically, the question of how much funding was being devoted to the district’s charter school, Merit Academy, had become a topic of contention since the school was approved for the district in 2022.

Following a meeting with both parties, a new IGA was signed March 26 that included a new financial report to be presented by the school district at a City Council meeting that now included funding to Merit Academy. A preliminary report was presented during a June meeting that was met with dissatisfaction by councilmembers who asked for greater detail and transparency by the school district.

The IGA was again agreed upon Aug. 26 with further accommodations made by the district. Per the new agreement, financial presentations would now be monthly, feature details such as allocations to payroll and charter schools and be made available to the public on its website.

This most recent amendment was signed as presented by the council with no changes or alterations made by the school district. The thought was that the need to put the continuation of the sales tax up to a November vote would no longer be necessary, since the City Council’s concerns were now met.

After the vote proved that assumption to be false, Bates said the councilmembers weren’t honest with him and other board members about resolving the dispute beforehand. The election results rendered all of that moot.

“In my view, the decision of the city council to forward the vote to keep or rescind the sales tax was short-cited and risky,” Perini said. “Fortunately, enough registered voters made the right decision to vote no.”

Perini thanked all of those involved with the WPSCC.

“Their energy, dedication, and passion were oL the charts,” he said. “This small group of volunteers were willing to stand out and wave signs in below-freezing weather and go door-to-door to inform citizens throughout our mountain town, not knowing what kinds of folks they would meet along the way,” he said.

Perini said the WPSCC had to deal with falsehoods and rumors.

“Fortunately, the facts were available on our website, Facebook page, and media interviews throughout the campaign,” he said. “We did attempt to ‘correct the record’ but were denied access on several local social media group pages that supported rescinding the sales tax.

“Kids and teachers were put first, and again, we thank everyone regardless of how they voted because, in the end, they were making their voice heard on local education.”

Other Election News• U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Lakewood Democrat, led Republican Sergei Matveyuk Sunday by 14.3 points with 97% of the state reporting her bid for a second term in the 7th Congressional District, which includes Teller County.

Pettersen’s popularity wasn’t supported by local voters, who favored Matveyuk by a 8,205 to 4,207 margin.

• In House District 60, Teller County results reported Republican candidate Stephanie Luck defeated Democrat Kathryn Green 8,656 to 4,035.

The incumbent Luck previously represented House District 47 from 2020 until 2023, when boundary changes redistricted her into District 60, which now covers all of Custer, Fremont and Teller counties, along with portions of Chaffee and Pueblo counties. Luck has also worked as a consultant, law professor and most recently a sixth-grade teacher.

• Teller County questions 1A and 1B, which involved eliminating term limits for the Teller County coroner and surveyor, both failed.

Gazette and Courier reporter Eric Young contributed to this report.