Colorado § 22-44-304 - Financial reporting - online access to information - definitions.

§ 22-44-304. Financial reporting - online access to information - definitions.

(1) (a) Commencing July 1, 2010, and on a continuing basis thereafter, the institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school shall post the following information online, in a downloadable format, for free public access:

(I) The institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's annual budget, adopted pursuant to section 22-44-110 (4), commencing with the budget for the 2009-10 budget year;

(II) The institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's annual audited financial statements, prepared pursuant to section 22-32-109 (1)(k), commencing with the audits prepared for the 2009-10 budget year;

(III) Repealed.

(IV) The institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's salary schedules or policies, adopted pursuant to sections 22-32-109.4 and 22-63-401, commencing with those applicable to the 2010-11 budget year.

(b) and (c) Repealed.

(d) (I) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2015, the institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school shall post in a format that can be downloaded and sorted, for free public access, the institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's actual expenditures, including but not limited to actual salary expenditures and actual benefit expenditures reported by job category specified in the standard chart of accounts, at the institute, school district, and BOCES level and at the school-site level.

(II) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (1)(d)(I) of this section to the contrary, a school district that the department determines is rural, based on the geographic size of the school district and the distance of the school district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and that enrolls fewer than one thousand students in kindergarten through twelfth grade is not required to report expenditures at the school-site level except for those school-site level expenditures that the school district charges any portion of to a district charter school.

(e) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2018, the institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school shall post on its website for free public access an easily accessible link to the federal form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-PF and any associated schedules that the institute, school district, board of cooperative services, or charter school files, if any.

(f) Additionally, commencing July 1, 2018, and on a continuing basis thereafter, each school district, if required in section 22-32-108.5, shall:

(I) Post a copy of the school district's plan for distributing the additional mill levy revenue collected by the school district; or

(II) For the 2018-19 budget year, post a statement of intent to distribute the additional mill levy revenue to the charter schools and innovation schools of the school district on a per-pupil basis and, for the 2019-20 budget year and for each budget year thereafter, a statement of the total amount of additional mill levy revenue collected by the school district for each property tax year, the amount distributed to support specific student populations as described in section 22-32-108.5 (5)(b), and the total amount distributed for said student populations and on a per-pupil basis to each charter school and innovation school of the school district, as a percentage and as a dollar amount.

(g) [Editor's note: Subsection (1)(g) takes effect only if Senate Bill 26-135 is approved by the voters at the 2026 statewide election and becomes law.]

(I) Additionally, commencing on August 1, 2027, each local education provider, as defined in section 22-54-202, shall post in a format that can be downloaded and sorted, for free public access, the local education provider's actual expenditures of any positive factor received pursuant to section 22-54-103.7.

(II) As used in this subsection (1)(g), unless the context otherwise requires, "positive factor" has the meaning set forth in section 22-54-103.7 (1)(c).

(2) This section does not direct or require the institute or a school district, board of cooperative services, or charter school to post online, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, personal information relating to payroll, including but not limited to payroll deductions or contributions, or any other information that is confidential or otherwise protected from public disclosure pursuant to state or federal law.

(3) (a) The institute and each school district, board of cooperative services, and charter school shall update the information specified in subsections (1)(a) to (1)(c) and subsection (1)(e) of this section within sixty days after the institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's completion or receipt of the applicable report, statement, or document. The institute and each school district, BOCES, and charter school shall update the information specified in subsection (1)(d) of this section annually by a date specified by the financial policies and procedures advisory committee. Each school district shall update the information specified in subsection (1)(f) of this section within thirty days after the school district board of education adopts a new or updated plan for distribution of additional mill levy revenue or, if the school district distributes the additional mill levy revenue on a per-pupil basis to the charter schools and innovation schools of the school district, within thirty days after the end of each budget year.

(b) The institute and each school district, BOCES, and charter school shall maintain the prior two budget years' financial information online, in a downloadable format, for free public access, until the end of the institute's, school district's, BOCES's, or charter school's current budget year.

(4) No later than July 1, 2015, the financial policies and procedures advisory committee of the department shall create a template that the institute and school districts, BOCES, and charter schools must use to post all of the information specified in subsection (1) of this section, including but not limited to the site-level reporting requirements. The template may include both the type of electronic file posted as well as the information to be included in the posting.

(5) In addition to the information required in subsection (1) of this section, the institute and each school district, BOCES, and charter school shall provide a link to the department's website or the location information for the department's website where a member of the public may access information or reports that are submitted directly to the department.

Source: L. 2010: Entire part added, (HB 10-1036), ch. 79, p. 268, § 1, effective April 12. L. 2014: (1), (3)(a), and (4) amended, (HB 14-1292), ch. 243, p. 908, § 11, effective May 21. L. 2015: (1)(d) amended, (HB 15-1321), ch. 217, p. 799, § 7, effective May 22. L. 2017: Entire section amended, (HB 17-1375), ch. 287, p. 1592, § 4, effective June 2. L. 2026: (1)(g) added, (SB 26-135), ch. 437, p. 3473, § 4, effective (see editor's note).

Editor's note: (1) Subsections (1)(a)(III)(B), (1)(b)(II), and (1)(c)(II) provided for the repeals of subsections (1)(a)(III), (1)(b), and (1)(c), respectively, effective July 1, 2017. (See L. 2014, p. 908.)

(2) This section was amended by SB 26-135. That bill contains a referendum clause and will be submitted to a vote of the registered electors of the state of Colorado at the next biennial regular general election in 2026 for its approval or rejection. The amended version of this section takes effect upon the proclamation of the Governor if SB 26-135 is approved by the registered electors.

Cross references: For the short title ("Student Success Act") in HB 14-1292, see section 1 of chapter 243, Session Laws of Colorado 2014. For the legislative declaration in SB 26-135, see section 1 of chapter 437, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.