Broomfield Taxpayer Matters

October 21, 2024

This newsletter contains the following stories and information:

Make Your Voice Heard - October Event
Vote No on Broomfield Ballot Questions 2A, 2B, 2G
What else is on the November 2024 Ballot?
Final vote water rate increase happening at next Council Meeting
Broomfield Council 3rd Quarter Expense Report
Colorado Health Care Exchange Premiums are going up
Inflation is up...again
Council Agenda for October 22
City Council member contact information

Pay Attention to these upcoming items in the Agendas:

October 22nd - Regular Meeting
5A. Expense Report for Elected Officials - 3rd Quarter 2024
7A. Proposed Revised 2024 Budget and 2025 Budget; Second Reading of Water / Wastewater Enterprise Ordinances
7D. Proposed Resolution Establishing the Utility Rate Assistance Fund (URAF) Program
7E. Proposed Ordinance Delegating Penalty Assessment to BPHE for violation of the Food Protection Act

Please let us know if you plan to attend by registering here.

Local News

Our next "Make Your Voice Heard" session will be held on Saturday October 26 2024, and we would love to have you join us!

"The Many Faces of Colorado, and How They Effect Our Economy"

Saturday, October 24, 2024 from 2-4PM

Check-in begins at 1:30pm

Event Location: will be in Broomfield, exact location will be sent after sign up is completed.

We are excited to be joined by Kevin Ross, Chairman of the Weld County Commissioners.

Kevin will share his perspective on importance of the energy and agriculture industries to the Colorado economy.

Please register today to join us at this informative session.*

* Broomfield Taxpayer Matters is a 501(c)4 organization. We reserve the right to accept or reject any reservation request for this event.

Vote No on Broomfield Ballot Questions 2A, 2B, 2G

As you are most likely aware, the Broomfield Council placed 7 ballot measures on the November 2024 Ballot.

Ballot questions 2A, 2B, and 2G are getting attention because of they would grow the power of the Broomfield Council and weaken your voice if they are passed.

We are standing with ProtectYourVoteNow.com to make sure these questions are not passed. and here's why:

Ballot Question 2A would give the Broomfield Council the ability to control the terms of recall elections, and appoint the replacement of a recalled Councilmember.
Ballot Question 2B would increase the number of terms that Broomfield Councilmembers can serve from two 4-year terms to three 4-year terms.
Ballot Question 2G would increase the Broomfield Mayor's term length from 2 years to 4 years.

With November 2024 election ballots being mailed out on October 11th, this is your opportunity to just say no to questions 2A, 2B, and 2G.

Please visit ProtectYourVoteNow.com for more information, vote no questions 2A, 2B, and 2G, and tell your Broomfield friends and neighbors to do the same. Please support the campaign by donating here.

What else is on the November Ballot?

The November ballot is going to be a doozey. In addition to the Presidential, Congressional, and State level office elections, there will be 14 state-level ballot measures, and as we mentioned, 7 Broomfield questions on the Broomfield Charter.

We've put together a more descriptive guide for the state-level and Broomfield ballot questions. Below are summaries and our position on the ballot measures, but be sure to read more about them at the link above. We may revise or change or position on the questions as we prepare our more detailed guide:

Final vote water rate increase happening at next Council Meeting.

As we have been following for the last several weeks, the Blame Game Broomfield City Council is pushing through a 50% increase in your base water rates. The Council will be voting on that increase at the October 22, 2024 City Council Meeting (See Agenda Item 7A).

After putting forward the appearance that they are listening to citizens through a series of public forums, study sessions, and city council agendas, the City Council is now poised to pass the exact same rate increase that was recommended by City Staff at the July 16 2024 Study Session.

Their rationale for the rate increase? They need the increase to shore up the water, sewer, and storm water funds for the city. They also need it to fund the bonds needed to pay for the $100M water tank project that they delayed and approved earlier this year.

Attend the October 22nd City Council Meeting and tell them to reconsider their drastic 50% increase in the water rates.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 6PM

Council Chambers,

One Descombes Dr, Broomfield,CO 80020

Email your city councilmembers, Mayor, and Mayor Pro-tem (emails are below) and tell them that you are drowning from their irresponsible decisions, priorities, mismanagement of the city's water fund.

Ask them:

Are they doing anything the help all Broomfield CItizens with the 50% increase in the water rates? Are they looking to cut in the city's budget to provide some relief to the citizens to lower the increase?
Why did they say they would listen to the citizens when they were just going to increase the rates with no change to the original plan? Why did they give Broomfield residents lip service?
What are they doing to ensure that they are prioritizing the city's infrastructure needs over other capital improvement pet projects.

Please let us know if you plan to attend by registering here. Thank you for being active and engaged citizens.

Broomfield Council's 3rd Quarter Expense Report

Imagine this...Broomfield Council has spent more money than any other council prior to it on travel.

If you look at the expense report, you will see that the City Council spent a record-breaking $44,721.59 of this year's $76,000 allocation.

This includes the Mayor ($10,452.10) and Councilmembers Henkel ($7,299.57), Marsh-Holschen ($10,477.87), and Ward ($7,356.34) overspending their budgeted $6,500. And they have another three months to spend more money this year!

This is up a whopping 45% since 2019, when the Broomfield Council spent $24,786.20.

Inflation accounts for only 23% of that increase, the rest is for what exactly? What did the citizens of Broomfield get from all of the trips that they've taken so far this year?

One thing is clear: They don't have a problem spending your money to fly around the country.

Colorado Health Care Exchange Premiums are going up... As open enrollment begins in November, the Colorado Division of Insurance has finalized their rates and there is no good news.

Our property taxes were increased by 30%, our water rates are increasing by 50%, and now the cost to have insurance is increasing.

Colorado Health Care Exchange premiums are expected to rise at more than 3x the rate of inflation. If you choose a plan outside the state-mandated plan, premiums for individuals are set to rise 6.1% and for small businesses with fewer than 100 employees it is expected to rise 7.1%. Even if you choose a plan within the state-mandated (forced) plan, a premium for an individual will still rise 4.6%, and small businesses will increase by 6.8%. OUCH!

We were told that the Colorado Legislature was working to lower health insurance premiums. Everything they touch makes our costs increase. We wonder if this has anything to do with giving certain groups of people "free" healthcare. Nothing is free.

This November, tell the politicians it's time to quit helping us save money.

Inflation is up...again

In a study by the Common Sense Institute, they published the following statistics:

During August and September, prices in Denver decreased by 0.012%, while national inflation grew by 0.37%
Fuel and utility prices increased by 3.5% between September 2023 and September 2024, while the U.S. average was 3%
From September 2023 to September 2024, housing costs increased by 1.39%, while the national level rose 4.08%
In August and September, the average Colorado household spent $2,670 more due to inflation than it spent in 2020 with an average of $1,335/month
If you are an average Colorado household, you spent $36,864 more since 2020 because of inflation.

Find more graphs in the Common Sense Institute's study.

Upcoming City Council Meetings - Please let us know if you plan to attend by registering here.

October 22, 2024

Regular Meeting - 6:00 p.m.

Agenda

Meeting Commencement (1)

1A. Pledge of Allegiance

1B. Review and Approval of Agenda

Petitions and Communications (2)

2A. Proclamation Declaring November 2024 as Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Councilmember Reports (3)

Public Comment (4)

Reports (5)

5A. Expense Report for Elected Officials - 3rd Quarter 2024

Consent Items (6)

6A. Approval of Minutes

October 1st - Special Meeting
October 8th - Regular Council Meeting

6B. Proposed Resolution for Approval of the Revised Emergency Operations Plan (EOP)

Resolution No. 2024-160

Action Items (7)

7A. Proposed Revised 2024 Budget and 2025 Budget; Second Reading of Water / Wastewater Enterprise Ordinances

Resolution No. 2024-147: Approving the 3rd Amendment to the 2024 Broomfield Budget
Resolution No. 2024-149: Approving the 2025 Broomfield Budget
Ordinance No. 2253: Amending Water, Sewer, and Reclaimed Water Fees- Second Reading
Ordinance No. 2255: Creating Stormwater Enterprise and Setting Stormwater Service Charges- Second Reading

7B. BURA Proposed Revised 2024 Budget and 2025 Budget