{"data":{"id":"us-co/c.r.s.-22-30.5-404","jurisdiction":"us-co","citation":"C.R.S. § 22-30.5-404","heading":"Needs-based inclusion of charter schools in district bond elections - eligibility - allocation of bond revenues.","body":"(1) (a) In enacting this section, it is the intent of the general assembly to respect the principle of school district local control and to encourage school districts and charter schools to work together to ensure that the capital construction needs of charter schools can be met. Accordingly, nothing in this section shall be construed to limit in any way the existing ability of any school district to include a charter school in any local bond elections or to otherwise assist a charter school in financing its capital construction needs in any legal manner mutually agreed upon by the school district and the charter school.\n\n(b) (I) A district's long-range planning committee, if one exists, and any other committee established by the district to assess or prioritize the district's capital construction needs shall:\n\n(A) Maintain at least one membership seat on the committee for a charter school representative. The charter schools shall cooperate to appoint the representatives required pursuant to this subsection (1)(b)(I)(A).\n\n(B) Clearly notify the charter schools of the committee's meeting schedule.\n\n(II) If a committee or body that is not the board develops a list of capital construction recommendations for the board to include in the district's ballot question or questions, it must solicit and give equitable consideration to charter schools' capital construction needs.\n\n(c) Repealed.\n\n(2) A charter school that has capital construction needs may seek to obtain moneys to fund such capital construction needs by requesting that the board of education of its chartering school district:\n\n(a) Include the charter school's capital construction needs as part of a ballot question for approval of bonded indebtedness to be submitted by the district to the voters of the district;\n\n(b) Submit a ballot question for approval of a special mill levy to the voters of the district pursuant to section 22-30.5-405; or\n\n(c) Include the charter school's capital construction needs as part of a ballot question for approval of an additional mill levy for ongoing cash funding for the capital construction, new technology, existing technology upgrade, and maintenance needs of the district to be submitted by the district to the voters of the district pursuant to section 22-54-108.7.\n\n(2.5) A district is encouraged to voluntarily submit a ballot question for approval of a special mill levy or include the funding for the charter school's capital construction needs in the district's ballot question or questions for approval of bonded indebtedness or for approval of an additional mill levy. If a district voluntarily submits a ballot question or questions pursuant to this subsection (2.5) and the district and the charter school mutually agree to the content of the charter school's proposal, then compliance with subsection (3) of this section is not required.\n\n(3) (a) A district that is considering submitting to the district's voters a ballot question or questions that concern capital construction shall solicit proposals from each charter school about their capital construction needs.\n\n(b) The solicitation described in subsection (3)(a) of this section must:\n\n(I) Be in writing;\n\n(II) Be made as early as practicable, but no later than one hundred twenty days before approving the ballot question or questions to be submitted to the district's voters; and\n\n(III) Include the deadline for the charter school to respond to the solicitation, which must be no earlier than forty-five days after the date of the solicitation.\n\n(c) A charter school's proposal described in subsection (3)(a) of this section must include:\n\n(I) A statement of reasons why the capital construction proposed to be financed by bonded indebtedness, a special mill levy, or an additional mill levy is necessary;\n\n(II) A description of the capital construction proposed to be financed by bonded indebtedness or revenues from a special mill levy or an additional mill levy;\n\n(III) A description of the architectural, functional, and construction standards that meet applicable state building code requirements and are to be applied to each facility that is the subject of the proposed capital construction project;\n\n(IV) An estimate of the total cost of completing the capital construction proposed to be financed by bonded indebtedness or a special or additional mill levy and, if any money other than proceeds of bonded indebtedness or a special or additional mill levy and interest earned on the proceeds is to be used to finance the proposed capital construction, a breakdown of the money that will be used to finance the proposed capital construction;\n\n(V) An estimate of the amount of time needed to complete the proposed capital construction;\n\n(VI) A statement addressing whether proposed construction and renovation, payment of overrun costs, and other capital construction project issues would be managed by the charter school or the district, with costs for management to be negotiated by the charter school and the district;\n\n(VII) A statement of reasons why revenue sources other than bonded indebtedness, a special mill levy, or an additional mill levy are inadequate to fully finance the proposed capital construction; and\n\n(VIII) A statement of the charter school's preferred means of obtaining money.\n\n(d) At a public meeting of the board or long-range planning committee, or, if no long-range planning committee exists, a meeting of any other committee established by the district to assess or prioritize the district's capital construction needs that occurs no later than forty-five days before approving a ballot question or questions to be submitted to the district's voters, the charter school shall present its proposal described in subsection (3)(a) of this section, including the proposal contents described in subsection (3)(c) of this section.\n\n(4) (a) (I) The board shall review every proposal submitted by a charter school pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. The board shall prioritize a charter school's capital construction needs in the district's long-range plan and include those needs in the ballot question in the upcoming election if the charter school's facility needs receive a higher priority assessment than the other schools in the district.\n\n(II) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2026.)\n\n(III) (A) Nothing in this subsection (4) requires a district to prioritize the capital construction of a charter school that is on probation with the district or that was initially authorized within the previous three years.\n\n(B) The board may require a charter school to certify that any construction will conform to any construction guidelines established pursuant to section 22-43.7-107.\n\n(C) The board and a charter school may agree to reserve or escrow funds for the benefit of the charter school.\n\n(IV) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2026.)\n\n(b) (I) No later than thirty days before approving the ballot question or questions to be submitted to the district's voters, the district superintendent shall notify in writing every charter school that submitted a proposal pursuant to subsection (3) of this section of the board's decision concerning whether to submit a ballot question for approval of a special mill levy or include the funding for the charter school's capital construction needs in the district's ballot question or questions for approval of bonded indebtedness or for approval of an additional mill levy.\n\n(II) If the board decides not to submit a ballot question for approval of a special mill levy or include the funding for the charter school's capital construction needs in the district's ballot question or questions for approval of bonded indebtedness or for approval of an additional mill levy, the notification described in subsection (4)(b)(I) of this section must include the board's reasons for the exclusion, which must be specific and related to the merits of the proposal, and must include the opportunity for the charter school to address any issues raised by the board. The board's reasons for the exclusion that are required to be included in the notification described in subsection (4)(b)(I) are for informational purposes only.\n\n(c) No later than thirty days after the board selects the capital construction projects that are included for a ballot question or questions to be submitted to the district's voters, the board shall post in a prominent and readily accessible location on the board's website a document that:\n\n(I) Outlines the process that the board completed to consider the capital construction needs of all of its schools; and\n\n(II) For all projects considered, whether the board chose to prioritize the project to include for a ballot question or questions or not, describes in detail the reasoning for choosing to prioritize or exclude each capital construction project that was considered for a ballot question or questions.\n\n(5) When a district includes a charter school's capital construction in a district ballot question seeking approval of bonded indebtedness:\n\n(a) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2009, (SB 09-176), ch. 247, p. 1113, § 2, effective August 5, 2009.)\n\n(b) The board and the charter school shall agree to the process by which the bond proceeds and investment and interest earnings on such proceeds shall be distributed to the charter school prior to submitting the ballot question to the voters of the school district;\n\n(c) The investment and interest earnings on bond proceeds shall be distributed on a pro rata basis to the participating charter school after management fees have been collected; and\n\n(d) The costs of submitting the ballot question shall be borne by both the district and the charter school in proportion to their respective portions of the total bond proceeds to be received unless the board and the charter school agree to a different cost-sharing arrangement.\n\n(5.5) If a charter school requests that a school district submit a ballot question for approval of a special mill levy to the voters of the district pursuant to section 22-30.5-405, the charter school shall agree to pay all costs of submitting the ballot question. Notwithstanding this requirement, if the board of the district submits a separate special mill levy ballot question on the same ballot as a ballot question for approval of bonded indebtedness, the costs of submitting the special mill levy ballot question shall be borne as agreed upon by the school district and the charter school.\n\n(6) (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no bonds shall be issued for the purpose of financing charter school capital construction unless the charter school that is to receive bond proceeds and the district have entered into a contract specifying that, if the charter school's charter is revoked or not renewed, the charter school becomes insolvent and can no longer operate as a charter school, or the charter school otherwise ceases to operate, following payment of all other debts secured by the capital construction, the ownership of any capital construction financed by the bond proceeds shall automatically revert to the school district.\n\n(b) The charter school shall not encumber any capital construction financed by bond revenues with any additional debt without the express approval of the school district. If the school district denies approval, the school district shall provide written reasons for such denial.","path":["Title 22 - EDUCATION","Article 30.5 - Charter Schools","Part 4 - CHARTER SCHOOL CAPITAL FACILITIES FINANCING ACT"],"source_url":"https://olls.info/crs/crs2026-title-22.htm","current_through":"Colorado Revised Statutes 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:37:45Z","sha256":"2b6191a8663e468dced709f9c2b3dcb2ccba824c136aae486ad1d4fedd83bd23","source_id":"us-co","stale":false,"prev":"us-co/c.r.s.-22-30.5-403","next":"us-co/c.r.s.-22-30.5-404.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}