Serving Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and beyond
WEEK OF JANUARY 2, 2025
VOLUME 41 | ISSUE 22
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Jeffco Public Schools outlines legislative priorities amid looming state budget shortfall BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
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With Colorado’s legislators set to begin their next session on Jan. 8, Jeffco Public Schools recently approved its legislative priorities amid a challenging financial landscape. Ed Bowditch, a government affairs consultant, gave the school board a legislative preview highlighting significant issues, including a $1 billion shortfall for the 2025-26 fiscal year and several key policy proposals from Gov. Jared Polis that would reduce district funding. Since Bowditch spoke to the board, economic forecasters reduced the shortfall projection to $750 million. Still, Bowditch told the board that the state’s budget is under pressure due to several factors: • Medicaid usage: Increased enrollment is straining state resources. • Property tax cuts: Approved during the August special session, these cuts are reducing state revenues. • State reserve shortfalls: Persistent budget gaps threaten reserve levels critical for fiscal stability. • Proposition 130: Approved by voters, this law enforcement funding measure’s fiscal implications add to the state’s financial challenges.
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The Clear Creek Trail is located within the Wheat Ridge Greenbelt, a 300-acre open space. FILE PHOTO
Wheat Ridge secures $52K grant for Greenbelt restoration BY SUZIE GLASSMAN SGLASSMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Wheat Ridge recently won a $52,330 grant from Great Outdoors Colorado to support restoration efforts within the city’s Greenbelt, an area of preserved open space along Clear Creek. According to the city’s website, this area supports “an abundance of native plants and wildlife and provides numerous recreation activities.” According to a GOCO press release, the funding, which
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is part of the organization’s Conservation Service Corps program, aims to improve water quality, protect wildlife habitats and promote long-term ecosystem health through projects focused on the Clear Creek corridor and surrounding parklands. “We are so grateful for the funding from Great Outdoors Colorado and the collaboration with the Colorado Youth Corps Association that allow us to make a positive impact on the environment while also building a future genera-
tion of stewards for our parks and open spaces,” Wheat Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Korey Stites said. Wheat Ridge’s grant application proposed three highpriority restoration projects outlined in its 2023 Open Space Management Plan. The plan states that these efforts are part of an overarching goal to “practice proactive stewardship, conservation and adaptive resource management for healthy habitat and riparian areas.” According to Sammie Trot-
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VOICES: 10 | LIFE: 12 | CALENDAR: 15 | SPORTS: 18
Governor’s K-12 funding proposals
ter, GOCO’s representative for the Conservation Service Corps program, Wheat Ridge plans to partner with Mile High Youth Corps crews to complete the restoration and will focus on the following: • Tree plantings over Clear Creek to create a canopy that encourages cooler water temperatures north of West and Bass Lakes. • Revegetating the south bank of Tabor Lake and the north bank of Clear Creek.
The governor’s proposed elimination of the declining enrollment provision would directly impact Jeffco Public Schools, the state’s second-largest district. Historically, schools were funded based on a fiveyear average of enrollment figures, which was reduced to four years last year. According to Bowditch, the proposal to eliminate the provision entirely would save the state $144 million but cost Jeffco roughly $23 million. The governor also recommended extending the implementation period of the state’s new School Finance Act, which was approved in May, from six to seven years. Bowditch told the board this extension would spread funding reductions over an additional year, resulting in approximately $42 million in statewide savings.
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SEE PRIORITIES, P8
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