Broomfield Taxpayer Matters

Broomfield Council to propose Charter Ballot Questions

The Council will decide the Charter Changes that will go on the ballot in November in their May 21st regular meeting. Follow-up meetings will occur in June and July to pass an ordinance.

Please consider attending the May 21st Regular Session. Let us know that you will attend by visiting this page.

Keep in mind that any changes to the Charter must go to a vote of the Broomfield Voters, and each ballot item must focus on a single subject.

So, this process may extend over the next few years.

The presentation summarizing the items discussed can be found here, and the actual charter with red-lined changes can be found here. And, our summary of the changes that were discussed is available on our website here (please go to the April 16, 2024 study session section on the page).

Summary for May 21st Charter Discussion

As the council reviews what it will bring to the November ballot, we want you to remember these three things:

• They are not listening to their constituents, think property taxes and the fact that they said they needed the money more than you
• They are driving up the cost of living in Broomfield, while saying they are for affordability
• They are not following their stated priorities, but like paint splatter, they are all over the place

For the meeting on May 21st, the council will be discussing what to put on the ballot in November. The Council had a two-hour conversation on this topic, but we did manage to take a couple of screenshots of Attorney Nancy Rogers' priorities for putting things on the ballot, although they are not included with the memo. Screenshots are shared below and the following are a summary of her priorities:

• Section 3.1 and 3.5-relating to changing the election wording so that it ensures we are following Title I language for City and County elections
• Section 6.4 - changing zoning for single parcels to be passed by resolution, not ordinance
• Section 6.9 - changing the publication of resolutions and ordinances to be mainly online, not in newspapers, to reduce costs
• Section 9.1 - changing the Personnel Merit System
• Section 10.2 - changing the language so that the municipal judge is able to supervise employees under her
• Section 16.2 - Allow IGA's to be passed by a majority of council, not the current 2/3

You can review the discussions about these items on our website.

Broomfield DDEI training...is it a good idea?

The City and County of Broomfield spends over $1 million dollars on a Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training program for employees (see page 115). They claim they are all for diversity, equity, and inclusion and have a mandatory training program, but does it really strengthen the community?

University of Chapel Hill-North Carolina recently moved the money invested in this fund to public safety. They found that this program actually promotes "divisiveness, exclusion and indoctrination," and "We need more unity and togetherness, more dialogue, more diversity of thought.” Maybe we should just teach mutual trust and respect instead of applying labels to everyone. In another opinion piece, it found that DEI just enforces uniformity and acquisition of power?

Treating each other with mutual respect is better than funding a department to tell you how to do that. Use these funds to fund public safety, like UNC-Chapel Hill and like the community told the council to do in their survey responses.

Are Legislative Bills Addressing Safety?

Governor Polis signed bills into law and his press releases stated it would make the public safer. Considering that Colorado is now the third most dangerous state, the second, highest in property crime, and violent crime, let's take a look at how a couple of these bills would help.

• HB24-1021: Motor Vehicle Minor Driver Education Standards. Are Colorado minor drivers making us the third most dangerous state, is it a property crime, or is it a violent crime?
• HB24-1432: Repeal CBI Criminal Justice Record Sealing Fee. So eliminating the requirement for a defendant to pay the fee to seal his records is supposed to affect how dangerous the state is, or reduce property or violent crimes. We really don't see the connection.

Read about the other bills in the links above and decide whether Governor Polis ihas prioritized protecting your individual rights by holding criminals accountable.

Affordability-Telling Developers how to Develop

When government starts directing developers, considering they have no experience in development, we can be guaranteed, the cost of housing is going up, up, up.

• HB24-1313: Housing in Transit-Oriented Communities. This bill tells local governments they must have a plan, "boost density near transit to an average of 40 acres per unit." Currently Broomfield has asked for state grants (which is still your money) for transit needs in Broomfield and now probably won't be able to meet this requirement.
• HB-1304: Minimum Parking Requirements. This one could hurt the Broomfield Town Square Development (if it ever gets built), by forcing people to park on the roads in neighborhoods bordering the development. Your government is actually trying to force you not to drive, just ride your bike, or take local transit (oops, see story above).

Again, this is just a taste of the new laws that you must follow.

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