State-owned land could earn cash for schools

Roughly 3 million acres of state-owned land could be the answer to crumbling and unsafe Colorado school buildings, several state officials said Monday.

Under a proposal announced Sunday in Denver and Monday morning in Colorado Springs, the state would raise about $500 million in capital by leveraging an estimated $30 million to $40 million in annual revenues from mineral leases, royalties, rentals and interest from school trust lands.

The likely option is using certificates of participation, said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, which would provide a lump sum of money paid off by the annual income from the land.

The land was given to Colorado by the federal government for the benefit of schoolchildren when Colorado became a state, said state Treasurer Cary Kennedy.

“The schoolchildren own this asset,” she said Monday during a presentation at Penrose Library.

Every child deserves a safe and healthy school, Romanoff said. He cited districts in the state where students and teach- ers dodge ceiling tiles and where untreated wastewater backs up into the cafeteria.

In Miami-Yoder School District 60 JT, Romanoff said, a student sitting at a desk fell through a rotten floor.

Teachers and students ought to be focused on academics, not facilities, he said.

House Education Committee Chairman Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, said he personally taught in schools where heat in the winter was not guaranteed, where roofs leaked and sewers backed up.

“I know firsthand how desperate the need is,” he said.

“We are all concerned about the issue of school safety,” Kennedy said.

The plan would not raise taxes, said Rep. Marsha Looper, R-Calhan, who has 11 school districts in her area, including Miami-Yoder and Edison School District 54JT — which Romanoff, Kennedy and others toured Monday afternoon.

The revenue is new, Kennedy said; school trust lands were not generating this much money five to 10 years ago.

In 2004, revenues were almost $57 million, according to state officials. In 2008, anticipated revenue is $90 million.

Kennedy attributed the increase to a strong and growing economy.

Before schools will see any money, the proposal must be introduced and approved by the legislature, Romanoff said.

Health and safety needs would probably be first in line for money, but details on who exactly would get the money are still to come, he said.

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