Broomfield Taxpayer Matters

July 24, 2023

Welcome, and thank you for following Broomfield Taxpayer Matters.

“The fundamental moral wrong that is committed, where some men coerce other men, where some men forcibly and by means of the state power construct systems for the rest of men to live under.” ~ Herbert Auberon, The Right and Wrong of Compulsion of the State

Important: The Charter Review Committee will be at the Taste of Broomfield on July 27th. They will have a booth set up to talk with you about the Committee.

The Charter Committee will meet again on Monday, August 7, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Heritage Room at the Health and Human Services building. Updates from meetings can be read under our Charter Review Committee page.

The Charter Review Committee discussed the following at the July 17th meeting. It is summarized here, more details can be found on the Charter Review Committee page at the Broomfield Taxpayer Matters website.

Townhall set for July 27th conflicts with Taste of Broomfield
Set up booth at the Taste of Broomfield
Have copies of the original charter and supplemental materials
members will not share personal opinions but will ask you to go to the website and give the committee some feedback
Introduction of Jonathon Barch - facilitator for committee meetings and townhalls
to clarify agreements and disagreements between members
define process to come to consensus
facilitate at townhalls
Broomfield Days - September 23 - Charter Review Committee will be at the main booth
Reviewed redline edits in the following sections:
Chapter VI – Legislative Section
Chapter VII – Initiative and Referendum

Important City Council Agenda Items - July 11th 2023:

Learn more about Proposition HH

It is vital that you learn about the consequences of voting for Proposition HH. Learn more about losing TABOR and 'Hear from Ben Murrey, Director of Fiscal Policy at the Independence Institute, and Michael Fields, President of Advance Colorado, as they discuss how Prop HH will eliminate TABOR refunds and negatively impact all Coloradans.

There will also be a special appearance by The Conservative Comedy Tour featuring Will Trachman!'

Thank you for your consideration of this important event.

Are you going to support Prop HH?

A recent poll indicates voters still support Prop HH, but they could be swayed to vote against it. The article states that voting for the proposition could save you hundreds of dollars every year. For a $700,000 home (which used to be a $500,000 home before valuations) your tax bill has increased by almost $1600, Proposition HH would save you approximately $300. The county where you live will still get a $1200 windfall. Why do they deserve the money? It is your property. You put work into it, you pay the mortgage, and it is your property. How is this fair? The government did nothing but increase their spending and cause inflation. The City and County of Broomfield also received Covid funds, where did that money go? How come every time you are hurting they benefit?

Over the next few newsletters, we will dive into this proposition and show you the language. Remember the TABOR refund of $750 you received last year? Next year your refund will be divided among low-income individuals and backfill local governments. Backfill? They are receiving the most money they have ever received! You've seen this, the City and County of Broomfield is not hurting for money.

In the article Governor Polis says, "“(Proposition HH) is a small part of the housing solution — certainly, higher property tax rates make living in Colorado less affordable...It doesn’t fix it, and we need to fix it, but certainly, higher property taxes would raise the cost of housing in our state, including raising rents, and that would set us back and make it even hard to deliver on solving our housing crisis." So his solution is to increase property taxes which makes it less affordable to live in Colorado." Got it.

Half of Colorado renters fear losing their housing...

A poll conducted by the Colorado Health Foundation found that nearly half of renters have anxiety about increasing rental costs. Polled Coloradans said the cost of living and housing affordability were their top two concerns. This is the fourth year that Coloradans view housing affordability as their top concern.

40% of those responding to the poll said they felt worse off now than a year ago. The rate of inflation was still up 3% over the last 12 months with the highest inflation in the areas of transportation and shelter. Over the last 12 months, real average hourly earnings have gone up 1.2%, adjusted for inflation. So the cost of living is still outpacing wage increases, which explains why people are anxious. The government keeps taking money from people in the form of taxes, fees, and regulations, making the cost of living increase, and hoping this will make things affordable. The fact is, it just makes everyone less wealthy and it will not be solved by government intervention.

Property Tax Protests at a Record Level

Coloradans filed a record 308,298 protests with county assessors this year compared to an average of 103,000 in previous years. One individual bought a ranch in Buena Vista and was paying $3000/year in property taxes. That figure just tripled. His property tax in Denver rose 50%.

In Eagle County assessed valuations rose to $5.6 billion in 2023 compared to $3.7 billion in 2021. If you appealed and didn't receive a decrease or if you didn't like the 2nd valuation, you can appeal to the Board of Equalization. Counties are bracing for this second round of appeals.

The article goes on to talk about the effect of the pandemic on surging home prices, and the repeal of the Gallagher amendment. The Gallagher amendment saved taxpayers about $35 billion since it was adopted, but they said local governments were suffering so instead they shifted the pain to the taxpayer, seems to be a theme here. Instead of actually working for the taxpayer, the government decided to keep more of your money for their priorities. Michael Fields with Advance Colorado Action is collecting signatures for an initiative that would cap property taxes at 3%/year.

Again, property valuations went up because of government interference in the economy and they will be benefitting by screwing things up. Vote NO on Prop HH and write to Governor Polis and tell him to go back to the drawing table. This is our property, not yours. You have done nothing wrong but are being punished by the government.

Crime has a cost...

Crime has a real cost, not only economically, but also physically and psychologically. This report compiles data from Colorado Crime Statistics - 2008 to 2023. High level statistics show that the crime rate in Colorado was 28% higher in 2022 than in 2008. Total cost of police-reported crimes was about $11 billion and the total cost of all crime is about $27 billion. Cost of crime per person was equated to be $4623. Adams and Denver counties accounted for about 40% of the crime in Colorado. The graph below, taken from the report, shows the Colorado Average Monthly Crime Rate per 100,000.

Although Broomfield doesn't have the highest crime rate, it still had 4,314 in 2022. The cost of crime in Broomfield for all police-reported crime was $91 million and for all crime is was about $246 million. That is about $3236 per person in Broomfield.

There is more information about various statistics such as what it would save Coloradans if crime was low in this report.

Expense Report for Elected Officials...

The 2nd Quarter Expense Report for our councilmembers will be discussed at Tuesday's meeting. If you remember last year, councilmember Heidi Henkel overspent her account by approximately $2500. Well this year instead of giving them a set amount per person, the rule is you can overspend as long as you take it from another councilmember, I'm sure it is all with their permission. This year councilmembers Marsh-Holschen and Ward received monies from councilmembers Cohen, Delgadillo, Henkel, and Leslie because I'm sure their business travel is more important than what the other's could learn. Is this how equity works? Some are more equal than others? Also, the two councilmembers that are on the charter review committee that want to change the form of government to more expensive positions, are not living within a budget?

More Regulations...Less Affordability

Ordinance 2216 and Ordinances 2221 and 2218 have a first reading at the City Council Regular Meeting on July 25, 2023. Ordinance 2216 says 'The State Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code has not included a financial analysis for the proposed requirements. Greater costs would be anticipated for electric-preferred and electric only requirements, although these initial costs may be offset through rebates and long term cost savings on the operation of these systems.' Rebates from the government, paid through your taxes, with no guarantee that the operation of these devices will pay off in the long run.

The other two ordinances, if passed, would require sprinkler systems in new developments, single-family homes, townhomes, and paired homes. A few of the reasons stated as to why they have not required this before are:

Cost to install sprinkler systems
Limited availability of plumbing contractors who are willing to install a hybrid sprinkler system
The necessity to contract with a fire sprinkler contractor (resulting in additional cost)
Potential impact for staff resources (Broomfield and NMFRD) by the need for additional duties for plan review and inspections of sprinkler systems

'The typical cost for adding a sprinkler system is currently around $2.70 to $2.90 per square foot of home based on the sprinkler systems being added to homes within the Baseline subdivision. This equates to around $5,800 to $8,700 for homes around

2,000 to 3,000 square feet in floor area.'

More government programs to help with home affordability. What happened to developer's deciding what costs the free market can bear?