Silver Schools board approves placing 2-mill continuation on November ballot

Louis Carrasco, an attorney with the Rodey Law Firm, told the Silver Consolidated Schools Board of Education on May 19 that the board should adopt a resolution to place a continuation of a 2-mill capital-improvements property tax on the November 2025 regular local election ballot.

Carrasco read the proposed ballot question into the record and said the resolution would authorize the superintendent to submit the question to the county clerk and Secretary of State. "Shall the Silver Consolidated School District number 1, the district, be authorized to continue to impose a property tax of $2 on each $1,000 of net taxable value ... for the property tax years 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030, and 2031 for capital improvements within the district," Carrasco read.

The attorney and district leaders emphasized this would be a continuation of an existing levy, not a tax increase. "If the voters approve this question, it won't raise their taxes. It'll just keep it where it's been assessed for the last six years," Carrasco said. Superintendent Hawkins also described the change as a continuation and said the ballot language was shortened to list only the categories the district expects to use, excluding items (such as teacher housing) the district does not plan to fund from the levy.

Board members discussed prior voting confusion during a special mail-out election that they said contributed to low returns on a previous SB 9 question. Carrasco and others said the November regular local election is countywide, with a single ballot format, and urged coordinated messaging with the county clerk about ballot layout to avoid a repeat of the earlier "backside of the ballot" issue.

At the regular meeting later the same night, the board voted to approve the resolution authorizing the superintendent to file the question with the county clerk. The board recorded a roll-call vote and approved the resolution.

The district and legal counsel said the ballot language identifies specific allowable uses under the Public Schools Capital Improvements Act, including erecting or remodeling school buildings, maintenance of grounds and facilities, and purchasing or installing educational technology and related infrastructure; Carrasco noted districts elsewhere sometimes include the full statutory text, but the district shortened the phrasing to improve voter readability and to exclude items the district does not expect to fund.

The resolution and the board's vote set in motion the administrative steps required under state election law for placing a ballot question at a regular local election: adopting a resolution specifying the question and asking the county clerk to print it on the ballot.

District officials said if voters approve the question in November, the levy would continue through tax year 2031; if voters do not approve it, the current levy will expire as scheduled.

The board did not adopt any additional spending plan tied to the ballot question at the meeting; Carrasco and staff said further, specific uses would be addressed if and when revenues are available.