Governor proposes cuts to BEST school building fund
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Shoshana Gordon/Axios
To pay for schools, Gov. Jared Polis is proposing cuts to a fund that builds schools.
Why it matters: The rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul scenario reflects the difficult task ahead of balancing a $40 billion budget with a $1 billion shortfall.
How it works: Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) is a high-profile program that distributes competitive grants to build new schools and upgrade existing ones, in large part with money from marijuana excise taxes.
- The money typically covers improvements related to health and safety, including expensive security upgrades and improvements to the heating and air conditioning systems.
By the numbers: In the current fiscal year, the state issued $155.2 million in grants for 44 projects, part of the $3 billion-plus the fund has distributed since its creation in 2008, state records show.
Yes, but: The annual demand for money is much higher. This year, the applications totaled $659 million for 56 projects — well above the previous year's ask of $522 million.
- So far the program has covered a mere fraction of the $20 billion in assessed need through fiscal year 2029, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
Between the lines: About three-quarters of the dollars to date went to rural districts. Another 27% went to urban schools, state statistics show.
State of play: Despite the demand, particularly from rural Colorado, the Democratic governor wants to redirect $60-80 million a year out of BEST and into the State Public School Fund, which pays the state's share of annual education spending
- This would leave BEST with about $260 million in the coming year, according to the governor's office, far short of the expected need. The total available would be capped in the future.
What they're saying: Polis says this is needed to ensure the stability of classroom spending into the future.
The other side: The program's advocates — notably Democratic State Treasurer Dave Young — are concerned about the idea.
- "The proposal to cap BEST grants and limit funding for K-12 capital construction does little to ease districts' operational burdens while only reducing funding for critical and overdue infrastructure projects for Colorado's school children," Young told Axios Denver in a statement.
The big picture: This is not the first time money has been taken from BEST to balance the budget.
- The 2021 pandemic budget diverted $100 million with unmet promises to pay it back, said Matt Samuelson, a member of the Capital Construction Assistance Board, which oversees the program.
The bottom line: The latest cuts, he says, "are a tough pill to swallow if we're going to be doing less of this, particularly in rural Colorado."