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Broomfield Taxpayer Matters
June 12, 2023
Welcome, and thank you for following Broomfield Taxpayer Matters.
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| Who has given you a commission to decide what your brother man shall or shall not do? Who has given you charge of his life and his faculties and his happiness as well as of your own? ~ Auberon Herbert (The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State) | |
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Important: The Charter Committee will meet again on Monday, July 3rd, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the HHS building, 100 Spader Way. Enter the west entrance (across from the fire department headquarters) and look for the Heritage 1 Room. Updates from this meeting can be read under the Charter Review Committee page.
There will also be a special meeting on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, 1-2 p.m. George DiCiero City and County Building, Council Chambers for a
presentation on the formation of the City and County of Broomfield.
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The Charter Review Committee focused on three main topics in the June 5th meeting. It is summarized here, more details can be found on the Charter Review Committee page at the Broomfield Taxpayer Matters website.
- Feedback from the townhall was given by the committee and city council members.
- Only one demographic was represented by the attendees
- More outreach is needed to get a broader perspective
- Townhalls should be focused on a few charter sections at a time
- Form of Government
- All members prefer a city council/strong manager form of government
- Discussion on whether 10 councilmembers or fewer councilmembers provides better representation and a discussion on the number of Wards
- Section 4.1 & Section 4.2 of Home Rule Charter
- All want mayor elected at-large, meaning the entire voting population selects the mayor
- What is the governing body supposed to govern
- Water, sewer, roads, etc.
- State and Federal positions
- Discussion of topics to be included in City Council Update on June 13th
- Reminder that a special meeting on June 20th will be a presentation about the form of government addressed in the original charter to create the City and County of Broomfield
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Important City Council Agenda Items:
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To help you navigate both the possible sales tax increase in Broomfield that may be put on the ballot, we have a fully, sourced page of information on the sales tax increase and the City and County of Broomfield Budget. The City Council is exploring a sales tax rate increase from 8.15% to 8.9%, a 9% increase which will be the second highest in the metro area after Boulder's recent sales tax increase. Now, because none of the other mill levies are increasing, except possibly the North Metro Fire mill levy if voted on by the public, the actual rate increase will be 4.15% to 4.9%, which is actually an 18% increase! So let's check our math. Let's say we bought a $2500 refrigerator, then the sales tax at the current sales tax rate of 8.15% would be $203.75. Now if that same refrigerator was purchased with a sales tax rate of 8.9%, the sales tax would be $222. Now it doesn't seem like a ~$20 increase would hurt you, but in these inflationary times, the actual cost of the $2500 refrigerator should have been around $2300. So you are spending approximately $200 more on the refrigerator and then you have to pay about $200 more in sales tax, it adds up, and the city has yet to cut any funding, only you. Also, check out our property tax information pages, which gives you highlights of the property tax increases along with the details of how to calculate your property tax, the recent votes and legislation that made our property taxes rise, and what you can possibly do to help yourself. We have heard so many people comment that Broomfield is becoming UNaffordable for them? Isn't this what all our city council members and state legislators ran on in 2021? Maybe they don't really understand how to make this economy affordable.
Remember, all our links are sourced so if you disagree with our numbers, let's have a respectful conversation. We are only sharing information, we feel is important for the taxpayer to know about how their money is being spent.
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A Denver District judge, David H. Goldberg, has cleared Proposition HH to appear on the ballot in November. As a reminder from the last newsletter on May 29:
- If Proposition HH fails to pass, Coloradoans will see the largest property tax increase in state history.
- If Proposition HH passes, Coloradoans will STILL see the largest property tax increase in state history (just a little be less than if HH fails), AND Coloradoans will be giving up our TABOR tax refunds to offset to slightly smaller property tax increase. And we will be giving up the TABOR tax refunds - forever.
We have screenshots of the parts of the bill that show this on our website in the property tax details page.
The article says, "In his decision, he cast doubt that he had the jurisdiction for the matter, but due to the “extraordinary time crunch” of a looming election expanded on his decision to speed up any further review." The article also goes on to say, “We will not stop fighting to deliver real relief for seniors, families, and businesses while responsibly protecting critical funding for services like schools, libraries, and fire departments our communities rely on.” Remember, when that was the argument for the ballot measure 2B in Broomfield. Do you honestly think with a $36 million budget that they can't afford these things. They constantly want you in fear that something is going to be taken away, but this is America. We are innovative, we are strong, and we always find a way to make life better. Remember when there were volunteer fire fighters. We didn't stop fighting fires because they weren't paid, we had the "Bucket Brigade"! Vote No on Proposition HH!
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Douglas Bruce - author of TABOR - on Prop HH
Douglas Bruce- the author of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) wrote a letter to the editor of the Colorado Springs INDY paper. He wants to let you know that TABOR is going to protect from high property taxes. The Denver Post said, "No other state in the country has a law like Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights. The constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1992 gives the job of deciding whether to raise taxes to Colorado voters instead of elected officials." What Mr. Bruce says is that in Article X of the Colorado Constitution, a.k.a. "Revenue", "TABOR (7)(c) says the aggregate yearly increase in REVENUE is CPI plus the "local growth" factor for each district (student enrollment increase for schools or net new construction for all other districts). If values rise 40%, mill levies must decline about 35%. The two multiplied together must not exceed CPI + local growth unless voters increase their tax rate..." He goes on to state "Do nothing, and then vote NO on HH, and we get our full tax refunds (state and local), while the property tax bill increase will average only 6% or 7% for property owners. Result? Property taxes will simply match inflation." This is the way it should be. Schools will still get funding, fire districts will still get funding, and we the taxpayer are protected from the greedy government.
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Governor Polis Vetoes Housing First Right of Refusal Bill
HB23-1190 "creates a right of first refusal of a local government to match an acceptable offer for the sale of a residential or mixed-use multifamily property (property)." Governor Polis vetoed the bill, a good thing for residents, and the state legislature accused him of siding with moneyed interests. Well those moneyed interests are us taxpayers. The government should not be allowed to come between you and your real estate broker. The government came between you and your doctor, you and your energy company, and now you and your best interest. The government is not helping you live your best life.
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A Mountain Town that Cares about the taxpayer
Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees decided to temporarily reduce it's mill levy to keep property tax increases near inflation rates. They see that they have a positive cash flow and therefore are trying to relieve the taxpayers of some burden. Of course, if TABOR does this automatically, as mentioned above, then maybe they are ahead of the game.
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City and County Happenings
June 13, 2023
Executive Session - 5:15 p.m.
Regular Meeting - 6:00 p.m.
Agenda
PC - Petitions and Communications (4)
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4a - Proclamation Declaring June 22, 2023 As Broomfield FISH Day In Broomfield
CA - Consent Agenda (7)
BSS - Board of Social Services (8)
BA - Council Business (11)
MR - Managers Report (13)
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13a - Proposed Sales and Use Tax Ballot Measure Survey Results - No Memo
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June 20, 2023
Proposed Agenda
Study Session
- Study Session and Request for Direction Related to Rewriting BMC 17-44 Off-Street & Bicycle Parking Code
- Study Session and Request for Direction Related to Potential Changes to Broomfield Building Code Requirements Related to Fire Sprinkler Systems for Single Family, Duplex and Townhomes and an Update Regarding Wildland Urban Interface Code Requirements
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Contact the City and County of Broomfield
Contact your City Council or City Staff about one of these stories:
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