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Pamela P. Mazanec <br />Colorado State Board of Education <br />Congressional District 4 <br />Pamela P. Mazanec <br />Director, Congressional District 4 <br />Colorado State Board of Education <br />201 E. Colfax Ave. <br />Denver, CO 80203 <br />Phone: (303) 866-6600 <br />To Whom It May Concern: <br />As a member of the Colorado State Board of Education, I urge the Mined Land Reclamation <br />Board to approve Transit Mix Concrete Company's application for a permit to open a quarry on <br />the privately -owned Hitch Rack Ranch in southwestern El Paso County. <br />In 1909, the State of Colorado reserved mineral rights on Hitch Rack Ranch. Accordingly, the <br />Colorado State Land Board last year approved a royalty rate of approximately $0.50 per ton of <br />granite Transit Mix extracts. At that rate, Transit Mix projects that royalty payments to the state <br />would exceed $20 million over the life of the project. <br />Because these more than $20 million in royalties would flow directly into the State School Fund, <br />I take great interest in the success of Transit Mix's application. Granting Transit Mix its permit <br />would bolster our neighborhood schools by $20 million without a tax increase. <br />The mill levy overrides on local ballots across Colorado demonstrate a general consensus that <br />Colorado's schools are underfunded. If voters are willing to increase school funding even at the <br />expense of a tax increase, imagine how enthusiastically the public would greet a proposal to <br />increase school funding by $20 million without one. <br />A quarry at Hitch Rack Ranch is in the best interests of taxpayers and schoolchildren alike. For <br />that reason, I wholeheartedly support Transit Mix's application. <br />Sincerely, <br />Pamela P. Mazanec <br />