BOND QUESTION
SHALL ARCHULETA COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 50JT DEBT BE INCREASED BY UP TO $79,900,000, WITH A REPAYMENT COST OF UP TO $156,500,000…
— from the Archuleta School District election resolution dated September 1, 2026.
We re-published a story a couple of weeks ago written by former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich. The original title for the article, when it ran CommonDreams.org, was:
$40 Trillion in US Debt and the Rich and Powerful Are Laughing
In response, Daily Post humor columnist Louis Cannon wrote a typically quirky piece about rich and powerful people laughing.
I want to say, right from the git-go, that I have nothing against laughter. I sometimes force myself to laugh when attending local government meetings, to keep from crying.
I did not laugh or cry on Tuesday, September 1, when the Archuleta School District (ASD) Board of Education voted unanimously to place a $156.5 million bond measure on the November ballot, because I was traveling that day, coming back from a family reunion in Alaska. So I missed the meeting — and my final chance to protest the proposed (but now final) election resolution before the School Board approved it. You can download the resolution here.
Disclosure: I currently serve as a volunteer on the Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) board of directors, and the ASD ballot measure includes funding for PPOS if the measure is approved in November. PPOS is an independently-governed ASD school.
Now that the ASD Board has officially adopted ballot language, the District can no longer expend government funds to promote a ‘Yes’ vote, according to Colorado election law. The District is allowed to provide politically neutral, unbiased information about the measure.
Yesterday, we posted a press release about the measure, submitted by ASD communications manager Kelsy Been.
Ms. Been’s ASD press release quoted Superintendent Rick Holt:
“This decision follows nearly two years of deep community engagement, careful planning, and extensive evaluation of our current school facilities,” Superintendent Rick Holt said. “Throughout this process, we have worked with parents, staff, community members and experts to understand the condition of our schools and identify a long-term solution that meets the needs of our students and community.”
These are basically true statements, although they may not reflect the fact that ASD has been working on plans to abandon its existing Elementary and Middle School buildings for at least 15 years.
The press release also stated:
On September 1, the Archuleta School District Board of Education voted 5-0 to place an approximately $79.9 million bond measure on the November 2026 ballot to help fund a proposed new PK-8 school and facility improvements at Pagosa Peak Open School.
Once again, basically true, although the actual ballot language will include two dollar figures: the amount of borrowed money that would be spent on facilities ($79.9 million) and the amount of property taxes that would actually be collected to pay the bond holders ($156.5 million).
I’ve been arguing against this tax increase measure with ASD Board members and with influential community members, since January 2025.
My argument has centered on seven points:
1. Americans are feeling particularly uneasy about their finances at the moment, for good reason, and that includes many of the Archuleta County property owners who would pay increased property taxes.
2. Archuleta County voters have not approved a bond issue for a new government building since 1996.
3. Property taxes and utility costs have been steadily increasing in Archuleta County for the past several years, and in January, the community saw its sales tax increase from 6.9% to 7.9% — a tax increase that will cost a typical family perhaps $200-$300 a year.
4. ASD school enrollment has been falling in recent years, and a demographer who advised ASD last year expected that trend to continue.
5. The three buildings that ASD would abandon are in fairly good shape and continue to provide decent educational outcomes. The basic ‘bones’ of those buildings are probably good for another 50 years, so long as the roofing is well-maintained. Yes, older buildings need maintenance, but the cost to fully catch up on deferred maintenance issues was estimated last month — by ASD staff — at around $17 million. According to my pocket calculator, that’s a small fraction of the $156 million tax increase needed for a new facility.
6. Based on my personal involvement in numerous election campaigns in Archuleta County, I believe our voters would gladly approve a bond measure of $17 million to fix our existing school buildings, but will likely vote ‘No’ on a $156 million bond.
7. Modern buildings are built to look modern, but they generally don’t hold up like old buildings. As an example, we can look at the ongoing maintenance issues at Pagosa Springs High School, built in 1997.
These seven arguments did not persuade any of the ASD Board members.
I certainly understand where the Board members are coming from. We could possibly build start constructing a new facility in 2027 for a total cost to local taxpayers of around $156.5 million — or we could wait another 15 years, and pay a higher price. Because as we all know, government buildings are not getting any cheaper.
Back in 2011, when ASD asked the voters to approve a bond measure for a new K-8 facility, the total cost for the proposed facility was $49 million. The voters said, ‘No, thank you.”
The total cost in 2026 dollars is $127 million (when you include a hoped-for $50 million BEST grant.)
Which helps illustrate that, typically, the cost for any particular government-financed project in America has more than doubled since 2011.
This doesn’t mean, of course, that wages have doubled, or that pensions have doubled.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average weekly wage in America was $1,186 in January 2011. In July 2026, the average weekly wage was $1,281.
That’s an increase of $105 a week since 2011. Or, looked at another way, an increase of about 10%.
Should the ASD Board of Education expect families… who have seen their wages increase by 10%… pay for a modern government building that now costs more than twice what it would have cost in 2011?
Who exactly is now making 200% of what they made in 2011? Colorado architects, engineers, and building contractors who specialize in government buildings?
When you compare those numbers — 10% and 200% — the whole proposition can sound downright ridiculous, and you might even be tempted to laugh out loud.
But I’m not laughing.
Read Part Two… tomorrow…