Topics
Code Section
Colorado > Colorado Electoral Code > Conduct of Elections

1-7-908. Additional notice – election to create financial obligation

Overview of Statute

A district[1] submitting a ballot issue concerning the creation of any debt or other financial obligation at an election in the district must post notice on its website or, if the district does not maintain a website, at the district’s chief administrative office at least twenty days prior to an election. The notice must include detailed information about the district’s current financial balance and past balances for the previous four years, information about the district’s constitutionally required emergency reserve,[2] and a location for interested individuals to review the district’s financial statements.

[1] Section 20(2)(b) of article X of the state constitution provides a definition for district.

[2] Section 20(5) of article X of the state constitution requires districts to maintain an emergency reserve.

Statute

(1) (a) A district submitting a ballot issue concerning the creation of any debt or other financial obligation at an election in the district shall post notice of the following information on the district’s web site or, if the district does not maintain a web site, at the district’s chief administrative office no later than twenty days before the election:

(I) The district’s ending general fund balance for the last four fiscal years and the projected ending general fund balance for the current fiscal year;

(II) A statement of the total revenues in and expenditures from the district’s general fund for the last four fiscal years and the projected total revenues in and expenditures from the general fund for the current fiscal year;

(III) The amount of any debt or other financial obligation incurred by the district for each of the last four fiscal years for cash flow purposes that has a term of not more than one year and the amount of any such financial obligation projected for the current fiscal year;

(IV) A statement as to whether the district’s emergency reserve required by section 20 (5) of article X of the state constitution has been fully funded by cash or investments for the current fiscal year and each of the last four fiscal years and an identification of the funds or accounts in which the reserve is currently held. If the reserve has not been fully funded, the notice shall include a statement of the reasons the reserve has not been fully funded.

(V) The location or locations at which any person may review the district’s audited financial statements for the last four fiscal years, any management letters that have been made public and have been provided to the district by its auditors in connection with the preparation of its audits for the last four fiscal years, and the district’s budget for the current fiscal year.

(b) If the debt or other financial obligation for which the district is seeking voter approval is to be paid from a revenue source that is accounted for in a fund other than the district’s general fund, the information required by subparagraphs (I) and (II) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall also be made available for such other fund.

(c) The information required by subparagraphs (I), (II), (III), and (IV) of paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) shall be based upon audited figures. If no audited figures are available, the information shall be based upon estimated figures.

(2) The notice required by this section shall be in addition to and shall not substitute, replace, or be combined with any other notice required by law.

(3) For purposes of this section, “district” shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 20 (2) (b) of article X of the state constitution.

Source: L. 2003: Entire section added, p. 748, § 1, effective August 6.

Definition [Expenditure]

Any purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money by any person for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or supporting or opposing a ballot issue or ballot question. An expenditure is made when the actual spending occurs or when there is a contractual agreement requiring such spending and the amount is determined.

(b) “Expenditure” does not include:

(I) Any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinion or commentary writings, or letters to the editor printed in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party;

(II) Any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast facility not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party;

(III) Spending by persons, other than political parties, political committees and small donor committees, in the regular course and scope of their business or payments by a membership organization for any communication solely to members and their families;

(IV) Any transfer by a membership organization of a portion of a member’s dues to a small donor committee or political committee sponsored by such membership organization; or payments made by a corporation or labor organization for the costs of establishing, administering, or soliciting funds from its own employees or members for a political committee or small donor committee.

Section 2(8) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.

Definition [Ballot issue]

A nonrecall,  citizen-initiated  petition  or legislatively-referred
measure which is authorized by the state constitution, including a question as defined in  sections 1-41-102 (3) and 1-41-103 (3), enacted in Senate Bill 93-98.

Definition [State]

A state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

Definition [Ballot]

(a) A federal write-in absentee ballot;

(b) A ballot specifically prepared or distributed for use by a covered voter in accordance with this article; or

(c) A ballot cast by a covered voter in accordance with this article.

(2) “Covered voter” means:

(a) A uniformed-service voter defined in paragraph (a) of subsection (9) of this section who is a resident of this state but who is absent from this state by reason of active duty and who otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(b) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, was last eligible to vote in this state and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements;

(c) An overseas voter who, before leaving the United States, would have been last eligible to vote in this state had the voter then been of voting age and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements; or

(d) An overseas voter who was born outside the United States, is not described in paragraph (b) or (c) of this subsection (2), and, except for a state residency requirement, otherwise satisfies this state’s voter eligibility requirements if the last place where a parent, legal guardian, spouse, or civil union partner of the voter was, or under this article would have been, eligible to vote before leaving the United States is within this state.

C.R.S. § 1-8.3-102.

Definition [Person]

Any natural person, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor organization, political party, or other organization or group of persons. Section 2(11) of article XXVIII of the state constitution.

Definition [Section]

A bound compilation of initiative forms approved by the secretary of state, which shall include pages that contain the warning required by section 1-40-110 (1), the ballot title, the abstract required by section 1-40-110 (3), and a copy of the proposed measure; succeeding pages that contain the warning, the ballot title, and ruled lines numbered consecutively for registered electors’ signatures; and a final page that contains the affidavit required by section 1-40-111 (2). Each section shall be consecutively prenumbered by the petitioner prior to circulation.

Definition [Election]

Any election under the “Uniform Election Code of 1992” or the “Colorado Municipal Election Code of 1965”, article 10 of title 31, C.R.S. C.R.S. § 1-7.5-103.

State Constitutional Provisions