KSJD Local Newscast - August 6, 2024

Montezuma County voters will be making decisions on four local revenue questions in the upcoming Nov. 5 general election. All four questions will not be on any individual ballot, however. Two of the questions involve school districts. Dolores School District Re-4A will ask voters to approve a mill-levy override to replace an existing mill-levy override that expires this year. The funds would be used for salaries, classroom materials and supplies, and building upgrades and maintenance. And the Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 School Board has declared its intent to seek a 3.9-mill-levy override in order to raise teacher salaries. Both the Dolores and Cortez school districts report that teacher salaries locally are not competitive with surrounding areas. In addition, voters within the Cortez Fire Protection District are being asked to approve a sales tax of 0.54 percent, which is roughly half a penny on each dollar, to provide additional funding for equipment and operations. In 2023, voters rejected an increase in property taxes for the fire district. And the Montezuma County commissioners are asking voters for a 1 percent public-safety sales tax to fund the county sheriff’s office, detention center, and drug task force. Montezuma County is one of a few counties in Colorado that does not have any sales tax specifically for the county.