Your Daily Guide

📚 $44 Million Tax Hike for Public Schools Lands on November Ballot

Denver voters will see a proposed $44 million mill levy override for Denver Public Schools on their November ballots. If approved, the tax hike would allow an increase in annual property taxes of $11.50 for every $100,000 a home is worth. For the median Denver home value of $624,800, that’s $72 a year. [DPS]

• Why the tax hike? The state determines public school funding based on the number of students enrolled. Since DPS enrollment has declined in recent years, their funding is also down. Other factors, like an increase in the number of students needing special education services and rising utility costs, have added to the budget strain.
• Thursday’s decision: The DPS Board of Directors voted unanimously to send the tax hike proposal to the November ballot after teachers and students showed up to support the proposal.
• How will the money be used? Revenue from the tax increase would raise the base salary of all full-time DPS employees by $1,750, which could help improve educator retention. Part-time employees will get a prorated increase. The new tax revenue would also be used to expand mental health services, boost technical and career equipment for classrooms, and increase special education resources. [Chalkbeat; Denver Post 🔐]

🚔 FBI Seizes $235,000 Worth of Goods in Major Drug Bust

Seventeen people have been charged with conspiring to distribute illegal drugs as part of an East Colfax-based drug ring, according to the Denver District Attorney’s Office last week. Authorities discovered $100,000 worth of cocaine, $100,000 worth of jewelry, and $35,000 in cash during a raid, along with five pipe bombs and 46 weapons. Multiple local and federal law enforcement authorities were involved in the task force that discovered and seized the weapons, including the FBI. [KDVR]

🔎 City Investigates Its Role In The Squire Lounge Flooding

After a major rainstorm flooded The Squire Lounge two weeks ago, city officials are investigating whether the Colfax bus rapid transit construction project could be to blame. Owner Sudhir Kudva, who previously blamed construction for the flooding in his bar’s basement, is happy to see the probe. "It was a relief to see the city come and take a look and not do just a superfluous investigation," Kudva told 9News. "They ripped up the entire concrete on that space and the curb." [9News]

🧑‍⚖️ Former Denver Restaurateur Sentenced to Prison for Fraud

Jared Leonard, the owner of the now-shuttered AJ’s Pit Bar-B-Q (along with other Denver and Chicago restaurants) has been sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and to pay a $2.8 million fine. Leonard was charged with falsifying documents to receive $2.3 million in COVID-19 small business grants and using a portion of that money to purchase a $1.2 million home for himself in Evergreen. Leonard also admitted to skirting hundreds of thousands in business taxes. [Denver Business Journal 🔐]

🧊 Colorado Orders ICE Facility to Provide Health Records

Elevating tensions in a weeks-long legal battle, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment formally ordered GEO Group, owner of the ICE detention facility in Aurora, to provide information about a June case of tuberculosis at the facility. While the order doesn’t request access to the facility itself, it does request information about the people who fell ill and those they came in contact with. [Denver Post 🔐]

• What’s next: GEO Group has until today to respond. If they don’t, Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser says he will sue.