SB 25-153
Fiscal Note
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
SB 25-153: PUBLIC SCHOOL FINANCIAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Prime Sponsors:
Sen. Kolker
Rep. Garcia
Published for: Senate Education
Drafting number: LLS 25-0627
Fiscal Analyst:
Anna Gerstle, 303-866-4375
anna.gerstle@coleg.gov
Version: Initial Fiscal Note
Date: February 13, 2025
Fiscal note status: The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary Information
Overview. The bill modifies the financial information that local education providers must post online and
requires that school districts post online certain financial information at the school level.
Types of impacts. The bill is projected to affect the following areas on an ongoing basis, beginning in
FY 2025-26:
State Expenditures School Districts
Appropriations. For FY 2025-26, the bill requires an appropriation of $28,838 to the Colorado
Department of Education.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts
Type of Impact
1
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
State Revenue $0 $0
State Expenditures $35,247 $0
Transferred Funds $0 $0
Change in TABOR Refunds $0 $0
Change in State FTE 0.3 FTE 0.0 FTE
1
Fund sources for these impacts are shown in the tables below. Page 2
February 13, 2025 SB 25-153
Table 1B
State Expenditures
Fund Source
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
General Fund $28,838 $0
Cash Funds $0 $0
Federal Funds $0 $0
Centrally Appropriated $6,409 $0
Total Expenditures $35,247 $0
Total FTE 0.3 FTE 0.0 FTE
Summary of Legislation
Under current law, each school district, charter school, board of cooperative services, and the
state Charter School Institute (local education providers, or LEPs) must post certain financial
information online.
Beginning July 1, 2027, the bill requires that school districts also post that financial information
for each individual school within the district, and adds the following to the required postings for
all LEPs and schools:
an itemization of each revenue source, the amount received, and the revenue’s intended
purpose; and
actual expenditures for marketing, lobbyists, contractors, or education management
providers, except that rural school districts with fewer than 1,000 students are exempt from
posting this information at the school level.
All posted data must be in a downloadable, accessible and sortable format. These reporting
requirements do not apply to early childhood programs.
Background and Assumptions
The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) maintains a Financial Policies and Procedures
Handbook and Chart of Accounts that must be used by local education providers to track
financial information. The Financial Policies and Procedures (FPP) Advisory Committee maintains
the handbook and supports districts in following financial procedures and requirements.
Under current law, school district and charter school financial information that must be posted
online is also submitted to CDE. However, the fiscal note assumes that the bill does not require
school level financial information to be reported to CDE, and that the updated handbook and Page 3
February 13, 2025 SB 25-153
Chart of Accounts will be sufficient to ensure consistency in the information posted. However,
should the bill require school-level reporting to CDE, costs will be about $27,000 higher than
estimated, in order to modify the data reporting system.
State Expenditures
The bill increases state expenditures in CDE by about $35,000 in FY 2025-26 only, paid from the
General Fund. Costs are shown in Table 2 below.
Staff
CDE requires 0.3 FTE to support the FPP Advisory Committee in updating the FPP handbook and
Chart of Accounts to reflect the bill’s reporting requirements, develop training on the changes,
and provide technical assistance to school districts and charter schools. The reporting
requirement does not begin until July 1, 2027; however, because the data posted on that date
will be FY 2025-26 financial information, CDE will incur the workload in FY 2025-26 so that
districts can track revenue and expenditures as they occur.
Table 2
State Expenditures
Department of Education
Cost Component
Budget Year
FY 2025-26
Out Year
FY 2026-27
Personal Services $28,838 $0
Centrally Appropriated Costs $6,409 $0
Total Costs $35,247 $0
Total FTE 0.3 FTE 0.0 FTE
Centrally Appropriated Costs
Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs associated with this bill are
addressed through the annual budget process and centrally appropriated in the Long Bill or
supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These costs, which may include
employee insurance, supplemental employee retirement payments, leased space, and indirect
cost assessments, are shown in the expenditure table(s) above.
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February 13, 2025 SB 25-153
School District
The bill increases workload and costs for school districts to track and post the required financial
information at a school level, and to compile the newly required data. Workload and costs may
include website development and staff time, depending on the school district’s current systems.
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed.
Appropriation
In FY 2025-26, the bill requires a General Fund appropriation of $28,838 to the Colorado
Department of Education, and 0.3 FTE.
State and Local Government Contacts
Education School Districts
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.