LAND USE

Unchanged in the bill are a pre- restrictions e IOU persists today. at’s because there’s enough money in the State Education Fund to buy down the de cit. And that will happen in the School Finance Act that will be debated later on in the legislative session.

— which is a Great-Recession-era scheme that allows the General Assembly to allocate to schools each year less than what they are owed.

( e State Education Fund, which is expected to be a rainy day pool of money to help the legislature fund K-12 education, is lled with income tax revenue. e fund gets 0.33% of taxable income, meaning that it rises and falls with the economy and as Coloradans’ pay increases or decreases. ere’s expected to be more than $1 billion in the fund next scal year.)

“For the rst time in a very long time we don’t need to use general fund money to e ectuate that buy down in the budget stabilization factor,” Zenzinger said. “ at will come from the State Education Fund this year. at fund has grown and grown and grown and we’ve tried not to tap it. But now we’re in a situation where we need to spend it down.” e budget stabilization factor is roughly $321 million. Zenzinger says the plan is for the JBC to buy it down by either half or fully in the school nance act. based on whether people living in a home are family members, as well as e orts to streamline manufactured housing.

Still pending in the legislature is a measure that would ban municipalities from imposing growth caps e budget also has $2.5 million to incentivize preschool providers to be a part of the program.

Zenzinger said there are also two things happening that are reducing how much it costs for the state to run K-12 schools: an increase in property values driving up local property tax revenue and a decrease in student enrollment.

“ e circumstances are di erent (this year), the context is di erent,” she said.

Next year’s budget also contains money to start up several new departments and initiatives launched by lawmakers in recent years, including universal preschool and the Behavioral Health Administration.

Starting next school year, 4- and 5-year-olds will be eligible for a minimum of 15 hours per week of preschool with no out-of-pocket costs for their parents. e budget has $322 million to get that up and running, half of which is a reallocation of existing funds while the rest is coming from tax revenue generated by Proposition EE, the 2020 ballot measure raising nicotine and tobacco taxes.

When it comes to the Behavioral Health Administration, which was created by the legislature in 2021, there is $1.9 million in the budget for sta ng, $5 million for community providers and $2 million for chil- while also repealing caps that have already been adopted in cities like Golden and Boulder.

Colorado Sun sta writer Jason Blevins contributed to this report. is story is from e Colorado dren’s programs. e total amount the administration is slated to get is about $270 million. e budget provides a 5% raise to state employees, with an additional 3.5% pay boost for state employees who work at 24/7 facilities, like the Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. It’s tough to quantify how much money that will cost because it affects various agencies and departments di erently. ere is also $7.3 million set aside in the budget to increase pay for Colorado State Patrol troopers. Finally, the budget includes $9 million for the Department of Corrections to be spent on $1,000 per month housing stipends for 1,133 staffers through February 2024. The money will be targeted at DOC staff serving in the Buena Vista, Sterling and Limon correctional facilities. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Additionally, any state worker who makes minimum wage will have their hourly pay bumped up to $15 an hour.

Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.