Woodland Park council members take first step in repealing a city sales tax which helps fund school district

WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) - Woodland Park city council members took the first step towards repealing a 1.09% citywide sales tax on Thursday night.

The purpose of that tax is to supplement the budget of the Woodland Park School District (WPSD), paying for everything from repairs to teacher's salaries. It adds up, generating about three million in funding last year.

However, some in Woodland Park have accused WPSD of not being totally transparent with their spending reports.

This all comes just days after the WPSD's chief financial officer, Jack Bay, stepped down.

At Thursday night's city council meeting, members voted 5-2 to repeal the sales tax; the first of two required votes.

"We will not be taking public comment or having council discussion on Ordinance 1492 tonight," Mayor Kellie Case said.

The ordinance, repealing a 1.09% city sales tax is money that goes directly to the WPSD, where it's used for a wide varieties of needs.

However, questions are now swirling over how the money is being spent, "The district says that they used the money to pay salaries for Gateway Elementary School teachers. Gateway Elementary doesn't exist anymore," Councilwomen Carrol Harvey said.

At a previous city council meeting this month, counselors openly criticized the district's accounting practices, "They were shown the proper way to do what we are required, and they refused to do it," Steve Smith said.

Jeffery Geer adding, "Aaron sat down with them, showed them exactly what we wanted to see and quite frankly what we got was a giant middle finger."

KRDO13 has reached out to Woodland Park School Board President Mick Bates several times for comment. We have yet to hear back.

Councilwomen Keegan Barkley, who affirmed she does not speak for the rest of the board, tells KRDO13 she can see where both sides are coming from, but as a district parent, she's not convinced that a funding cut would best serve students and staff.

There will be public comment allowed at the Woodland Park city council meeting on March 6th.

The board will hear that before they hold their second and final vote on the matter.