Emotions were heavy at Woodland Park City Hall Monday morning during a special meeting. Not even a week after a seemingly vote of goodwill between the City Council and local school district, council members voted to repeal the sales tax for the town’s public schools.

The swift and unanimous action came on the heels of a vote during a March 6 meeting that suspended an ordinance indefinitely to repeal a 1.09% local sales tax earmarked for public schools.

The emergency ordinance and special meeting Monday came after a leaked agenda item for this week’s Woodland Park RE-2  school board meeting. The resolution focused on the possible sale of the Merit Academy charter school building. In the event that the sales tax were to be lost, the sale of the building would be finalized within 60 days. 

Council members were notified of the ordinance the day after their meeting, and scheduled the special meeting shortly thereafter. Council members said the resolution was the latest example of the school district acting in bad faith over their intergovernmental agreement — and the final straw ahead of repealing the tax.

“Ahead of our lovely meeting on Thursday, I was so pleased and looking forward to a council that came together and were committed to make things right,” Woodland Park Mayor Kellie Case said. “And I felt betrayed. I felt used. I felt my integrity and reputation was compromised.”

In a Monday news release ahead of the meeting, Woodland Park RE-2 Superintendent Ken Witt, who on Friday announced his upcoming resignation, said the sale could create additional revenue and save budget funds towards maintenance.

“Selling this facility, which does not benefit the district because it is fully utilized by Merit Academy, will allow us to retain an additional $240,000 per year by reducing flow-through funding to Merit Academy by that amount annually, as payment for the facility,” he said. “As this is long-term financing, the district will capture more of the sales tax revenue from the city for decades, greatly benefiting this school district.”

The tax most recently accounted for more than $3 million of the district’s $30.8 million budget for the 2024-25 school year. Per the intergovernmental agreement, the tax revenue was intended to fund various services and resources to the district including teacher salaries, maintenance and school programs. 

More than 20 community members expressed their opinions about losing the tax, with some people arguing that the council wasn’t acting on their best interests . Others believed that the school district was misusing the funds generated by the tax and that losing it would be the result of that.

Current Woodland Park teacher Amy Jones said that losing the tax would punish and harm a school district that is already struggling financially.

“Losing this money would almost force the school district to have to sell that building,” she said. “Where’s the money going to come from to pay the teachers? To pay for the services and the supplies that we need? Well now, all of a sudden, we need to figure out how we’re going to bring in more money.”

The ordinance is now adopted and effective immediately. The vote was met with scattered applause.

The IGA also required the district to submit detailed reports to the City Council about how exactly the tax dollars were being used. This became a point of contention over the past year, with reports submitted being deemed inadequate and the district getting accused of acting in bad faith.

Examples included the district’s announcement to close Gateway Elementary School the day after a meeting with the council during which it was never mentioned.

Last year, the council approved a ballot measure to repeal the sales tax that ultimately failed with 58% of voters opting to keep it. Following another financial report to the council deemed inadequate, talks of repealing the tax reemerged as a way to hold the district accountable.

Between the talks and Monday’s vote, the school district’s chief financial officer Jack Bay and Witt both resigned.

“We are extremely disheartened by the council’s decision to overturn what our community decisively supported at the ballot box,” said Witt in a statement. “This funding has played a critical role in advancing the success of our schools, and its removal will have a profoundly negative impact on our operations.”

Ahead of their vote, council members expressed their disappointment in the school district’s latest developments and their appreciation to the whistleblowers. Councilwoman Teri Baldwin said that the state Attorney General’s office had been notified and that she “felt so stupid for extending the olive branch.”

“I don’t know if the school board is obstinate, hard-headed, if they’re incompetent, if anything nefarious is going on…[but] there is a group who cares nothing about the entire district and all the kids and the teachers that have been affected,” she said.

Baldwin then resigned from the council immediately following the meeting.  

Mick Bates, Woodland Park RE-2 board president, said that the leaked resolution was incorrectly labeled as an action item when it was supposed to be labeled as a discussion item for the meeting. He added that it shouldn’t have been the deciding factor for the City Council to repeal the tax.

“This isn’t within City Council’s jurisdiction,” Bates said. “They’re way outside of their lane in making these kinds of decisions. These are facility decisions made by the school district. It has nothing to do with City Council.”

The legal representation for both of the governmental bodies had previously argued the legality of the City Council making its decision in the weeks leading up to it. Bates said the school district plans to meet and consider possible legal action.

The heat didn’t let up after the meeting’s adjournment, with some in attendance telling Bates that he and the school board were responsible for the council’s vote and “for destroying public education in Woodland Park.”