A Bill for an Act
Page 1, Line 101Concerning additional public school financial reporting
Page 1, Line 102requirements.
Bill Summary
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://leg.colorado.gov.)
Under current law, the state charter school institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school is required to publicly report certain financial information online. The bill requires a school district to report all information for itself and for each of its traditional public schools beginning July 1, 2027. Each report must include additional information concerning actual marketing, student recruitment, lobbying, contractor, and education management provider expenditures and all sources of revenue.
Page 2, Line 1Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
Page 2, Line 2SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-44-304, amend
Page 2, Line 3(1)(a) introductory portion, (1)(d)(I), (1)(e), (1)(f), (3)(a), (4), and (5); and add (1)(a.1), (1)(a.5), (1)(a.7), (1)(d)(III), (3)(a.5), and (6) as follows:
Page 2, Line 422-44-304. Financial reporting - online access to information
Page 2, Line 5- repeal. (1) (a) Commencing July 1, 2010, and on a continuing basis
Page 2, Line 6thereafter, through the 2026-27 budget year, the institute and each
Page 2, Line 7school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school shall
Page 2, Line 8post the following information online, in a downloadable and accessible format, for free public access:
Page 2, Line 9(a.1) (I) Subsection (1)(a) of this section is repealed, effective July 1, 2027.
Page 2, Line 10(II) This subsection (1)(a.1) is repealed, effective July 1, 2028.
Page 2, Line 11(a.5) Beginning July 1, 2027, and on a continuing basis
Page 2, Line 12thereafter, the institute, each school district for the school
Page 2, Line 13district and for each of the school district's traditional public
Page 2, Line 14schools, each board of cooperative services, and each charter
Page 2, Line 15school shall post the following information on its public
Page 2, Line 16website for free, in a downloadable, accessible, and sortable format:
Page 2, Line 17(I) The annual budget;
(II) The annual audited financial statements;
Page 2, Line 18(III) The salary schedules or policies;
Page 2, Line 19(IV) An itemization of each revenue source, including, at
Page 3, Line 1a minimum, each local source; state source; federal source;
Page 3, Line 2private source; gift, grant, or donation with a value equal to or
Page 3, Line 3greater than five hundred dollars; investment income; and
Page 3, Line 4property income. Each itemization must include, at a minimum,
Page 3, Line 5the revenue source's name, the revenue amount, and a description of the revenue's intended purpose, if any.
Page 3, Line 6(V) (A) Actual expenditures, including actual salary
Page 3, Line 7expenditures and actual benefit expenditures reported by job
Page 3, Line 8category specified in the standard chart of accounts and
Page 3, Line 9including an itemization of each expenditure paid for marketing,
Page 3, Line 10for student recruitment, to a lobbyist, a contractor, or an
Page 3, Line 11education management provider. Each itemization must include,
Page 3, Line 12at a minimum, the expenditure recipient's name, the expenditure amount, and a description of the expenditure's purpose.
Page 3, Line 13(B) Notwithstanding subsection (1)(a.5)(V)(A) of this
Page 3, Line 14section, a school district that the department determines is
Page 3, Line 15rural based on the geographic size of the school district and the
Page 3, Line 16distance of the school district from the nearest large,
Page 3, Line 17urbanized area, and that enrolls fewer than one thousand
Page 3, Line 18students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, is not required
Page 3, Line 19to report expenditures at the school level except for school
Page 3, Line 20level expenditures that the school district charges to a district charter school.
Page 3, Line 21(VI) The federal form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF, or any
Page 3, Line 22associated schedules that the institute, school district, school
Page 3, Line 23district school, board of cooperative services, or charter
Page 3, Line 24school files, if any.
Page 4, Line 1(a.7) Beginning July 1, 2027, and on a continuing basis
Page 4, Line 2thereafter, in addition to the reporting requirements
Page 4, Line 3established pursuant to subsection (1)(a.5) of this section, each
Page 4, Line 4school district, if required pursuant to section 22-32-108.5, shall
Page 4, Line 5post the following information on its public website for free, in a downloadable, accessible, and sortable format:
Page 4, Line 6(I) A copy of the school district's plan for distributing
Page 4, Line 7additional mill levy revenue collected by the school district; or
Page 4, Line 8(II) A statement of the total amount of additional mill
Page 4, Line 9levy revenue collected by the school district for each property
Page 4, Line 10tax year, the amount distributed to support specific student
Page 4, Line 11populations as described in section 22-32-108.5 (5)(b), and the
Page 4, Line 12total amount distributed for said student populations and on a
Page 4, Line 13per-pupil basis to each charter school and innovation school of the school district, as a percentage and as a dollar amount.
Page 4, Line 14(d) (I) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2015, through the
Page 4, Line 152026-27 budget year, the institute and each school district, board of
Page 4, Line 16cooperative services, and charter school shall post in a format that
can bePage 4, Line 17
downloaded and sortedPage 4, Line 18for free public access, the institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter
Page 4, Line 19school's actual expenditures, including but not limited to actual salary
Page 4, Line 20expenditures and actual benefit expenditures reported by job category
Page 4, Line 21specified in the standard chart of accounts, at the institute, school district, and BOCES level and at the school-site level.
Page 4, Line 22(III) This subsection (1)(d) is repealed, effective July 1,
Page 4, Line 232027.
Page 5, Line 1(e) (I) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2018, through the
Page 5, Line 22026-27 budget year, the institute and each school district, board of
Page 5, Line 3cooperative services, and charter school shall post on its website for free
Page 5, Line 4public access an easily accessible link to the federal form 990, 990-EZ,
Page 5, Line 5or 990-PF and any associated schedules that the institute, school district, board of cooperative services, or charter school files, if any.
Page 5, Line 6(II) This subsection (1)(e) is repealed, effective July 1, 2027.
Page 5, Line 7(f) (I) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2018, and on a
Page 5, Line 8continuing basis thereafter, through the 2026-27 budget year, each school district, if required in section 22-32-108.5, shall:
Page 5, Line 9
(I)Page 5, Line 10
(II)Page 5, Line 11distribute the additional mill levy revenue to the charter schools and
Page 5, Line 12innovation schools of the school district on a per-pupil basis and, for the
Page 5, Line 132019-20 budget year and for each budget year thereafter, a statement of
Page 5, Line 14the total amount of additional mill levy revenue collected by the school
Page 5, Line 15district for each property tax year, the amount distributed to support
Page 5, Line 16specific student populations as described in section 22-32-108.5 (5)(b),
Page 5, Line 17and the total amount distributed for said student populations and on a
Page 5, Line 18per-pupil basis to each charter school and innovation school of the school district, as a percentage and as a dollar amount.
Page 5, Line 19(II) This subsection (1)(f) is repealed, effective July 1, 2027.
Page 5, Line 20(3) (a) (I) Through the 2026-27 budget year, the institute and
Page 5, Line 21each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school
Page 5, Line 22shall update the information specified in subsections (1)(a) to (1)(c) and
Page 5, Line 23subsection (1)(e) of this section within sixty days after the institute's,
Page 6, Line 1school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's completion or receipt of the
Page 6, Line 2applicable report, statement, or document. The institute and each school
Page 6, Line 3district, BOCES, and charter school shall update the information specified
Page 6, Line 4in subsection (1)(d) of this section annually by a date specified by the
Page 6, Line 5financial policies and procedures advisory committee. Each school district
Page 6, Line 6shall update the information specified in subsection (1)(f) of this section
Page 6, Line 7within thirty days after the school district board of education adopts a new
Page 6, Line 8or updated plan for distribution of additional mill levy revenue or, if the
Page 6, Line 9school district distributes the additional mill levy revenue on a per-pupil
Page 6, Line 10basis to the charter schools and innovation schools of the school district, within thirty days after the end of each budget year.
Page 6, Line 11(II) This subsection (3)(a) is repealed, effective July 1, 2027.
Page 6, Line 12(a.5) The institute, each school district for the school
Page 6, Line 13district and for each of the school district's traditional public
Page 6, Line 14schools, each board of cooperative services, and each charter
Page 6, Line 15school shall update the information specified in subsections
Page 6, Line 16(1)(a.5)(I), (1)(a.5)(II), (1)(a.5)(III), and (1)(a.5)(VI) of this section
Page 6, Line 17within sixty days after the institute's, school district's, board
Page 6, Line 18of cooperative services', or charter school's completion or
Page 6, Line 19receipt of the applicable document. The institute and each
Page 6, Line 20school district, board of cooperative services, and charter
Page 6, Line 21school shall update the information specified in subsections
Page 6, Line 22(1)(a.5)(IV) and (1)(a.5)(V) of this section annually by a date
Page 6, Line 23specified by the financial policies and procedures advisory
Page 6, Line 24committee. Each school district shall update the information
Page 6, Line 25specified in subsection (1)(a.7) of this section within thirty days
Page 6, Line 26after the school district board of education adopts a new or
Page 7, Line 1updated plan for distribution of additional mill levy revenue
Page 7, Line 2or, if the school district distributes the additional mill levy
Page 7, Line 3revenue on a per-pupil basis to the charter schools and
Page 7, Line 4innovation schools of the school district, within thirty days after the end of each budget year.
Page 7, Line 5(4)
No later than July 1, 2015,Page 7, Line 6procedures advisory committee of the department shall create a template
Page 7, Line 7that the institute and school districts, BOCES, and charter schools must
Page 7, Line 8use to post all of the information specified in subsection (1) of this
Page 7, Line 9section, including but not limited to the site-level reporting requirements.
Page 7, Line 10The template may include both the type of electronic file posted as well
Page 7, Line 11as the information to be included in the posting. The template must be in an accessible format.
Page 7, Line 12(5) In addition to the information required in subsection (1) of this
Page 7, Line 13section, the institute and each school district, traditional public
Page 7, Line 14school, BOCES, and charter school shall provide a link to the
Page 7, Line 15department's website or the location information for the department's
Page 7, Line 16website where a member of the public may access information or reports that are submitted directly to the department.
Page 7, Line 17(6) The reporting requirements set forth in this section do not apply to any early childhood program.
Page 7, Line 18SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-30.5-104.7, amend (2) introductory portion and (2)(d)(III) as follows:
Page 7, Line 1922-30.5-104.7. Charter school networks - authority -
Page 7, Line 20definitions. (2) Notwithstanding any provision of this
articlePage 7, Line 21(d) Is authorized to make necessary and appropriate expenditures
Page 8, Line 1from any lawful source for central office purposes and to allocate funds
Page 8, Line 2among the schools that it operates, as permitted by law and consistent with the terms of the charter contract. A charter school network:
Page 8, Line 3(III)
Commencing July 1, 2015,sectionPage 8, Line 4
22-44-304 (1)(d)Page 8, Line 5SECTION 3. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
Page 8, Line 6takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
Page 8, Line 7ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except
Page 8, Line 8that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V
Page 8, Line 9of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this
Page 8, Line 10act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take
Page 8, Line 11effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in
Page 8, Line 12November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.