Sign up for Chalkbeat Colorado’s free daily newsletter to get the latest reporting from us, plus curated news from other Colorado outlets, delivered to your inbox.
Colorado voters on Tuesday will decide the future of the state’s popular universal free school meals program.
Proposition LL would allow Colorado to keep millions in excess revenue raised for the program instead of providing refunds to certain taxpayers.
The measure is one of two that asks voters to increase funding for the Healthy School Meals for All program, which provides free breakfast and lunch to students at participating schools.
The program has become more popular and therefore more expensive than expected. Money from Proposition FF, the 2022 ballot measure that created Healthy School Meals for All, hasn’t raised enough annual revenue to keep up with those expenses.
The state needs about $150 million to fully fund the program this year, otherwise 382 of the 1,803 schools participating won’t be able to serve free meals starting in January. If the ballot measures don’t pass, families will have to pay for meals or fill out federal forms to get free or reduced price meals.
Lawmakers placed Proposition LL before voters to exempt money for the school meals program from the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, which requires Colorado to provide tax refunds if money collected from a voter-approved ballot measure exceeds state estimates.
Since Proposition FF passed, the state has collected millions more than budget officials have estimated, triggering refunds to households that make more than $300,000 a year.
For example, state officials had estimated Proposition FF would collect $100.7 million for the program in the 2023-24 year. Instead, the state collected about $112 million, or about $11.3 million more than expected.
Instead of refunding the money from that tax year, lawmakers have asked permission through Proposition LL to keep that $11.3 million, plus $1.1 million in interest, to help fund the free school meals. Proposition LL would also affect future year tax collections and rebates subject to TABOR.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
