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Here are some of the stories we are following this week. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for up-to-the-minute news.
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Governor Polis has the power to call for a special session to address property taxes. But he hasn’t, and he won’t. Why? Because he and his caucus would rather leverage the looming property tax disaster to eliminate TABOR refunds once and for all, and Proposition HH does just that.
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Advocates of Prop HH are being deliberately deceptive. It’s not complicated: a tax reduction does not need to go to a popular vote. Taking your TABOR refunds forever does.
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Is now a good time to ask for more tax money from Academy School District 20 residents? The districts certainly thinks so.
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Colorado Springs Utilities is currently attempting to justify the huge mistake of building a 60-foot tall water tower in Mountain Shadows when the approved plans only allowed for a 45-foot tall water tower. Where do you see this ending? Will CSU get their way?
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Apparently, being a rubber stamp for developers leads to receiving awards. The Colorado Springs Planning Department has received two awards from the Colorado chapter of the American Planning Association.
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Election Day is next Tuesday. Here are voting locations in El Paso County.
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One bill coming up in the next legislative session will punish you financially if you drive a larger vehicle. Their rationale for this is that, larger vehicles are “…more often involved in fatalities and serious injuries…”in pedestrian and bicycle accidents. No data indicating this has yet been provided.
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Ironically, the most popular vehicle in Colorado is the Ford F-150 pickup truck. Do you think greedy legislators knew this before crafting this punitive legislation?
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Governor Jared Polis has released his proposed budget for 2024. We can all guess which direction the state budget goes.
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The Colorado Department of Human Services has been sued for failure to provide services, mostly to the homeless and mentally ill. However, they also apparently have some funds to award to other organizations who may have solutions to this backlog.
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Some homeowners in Colorado are seeing dramatic increases in their homeowner insurance premiums. Are you seeing increases in your insurance premiums?
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Colorado Springs Utilities is offering assistance to those struggling with winter utility bills. Also, the defeat of Ballot Issue 2A will offer some relief, since a TABOR refund would be credited to your utility bill. Food for thought.
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Could you imagine raw sewage backing up into your house due to a failure of the city sewage system? Well, disgusting as it is, it happens. Colorado Springs Utilities has demonstrated an unwillingness to take responsibility, even when it is clearly their responsibility. They do this by either denying claims outright, or dragging their feet when paying out on expensive claims they can’t back out of. Not very good customer service in our opinion.
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A panel in Colorado has turned down the idea of taxpayer-funded safe drug injection sites in the state. Do you think the legislature will still push for this in the coming session? Why does your elected legislature continue to push for accommodation of drug addicts rather than treatment or prevention?
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Also in 2024 legislature news, legislators are pursuing a giant increase in the tax on short-term rental properties. They can never get enough of your money, folks.
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You may recall that the Colorado Department of Higher Education suffered a data breach last summer, and substantial amounts of private student information was stolen. We’re learning now that the department ignored the reporting law for data breaches. Laws are for the little people.
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If you would like to help support us in our mission as government watchdogs by becoming a Newsletter Sponsor, we are offering two sponsorships for each weekly newsletter, at the nominal cost of $100 each. Funds raised from these sponsorship opportunities will help us to keep looking out for taxpayers.
Here are some upcoming meetings in the area. We hope you can attend one or more!
If there are other public meetings you’d like to see announced here, please drop us a line. We are happy to include them in an upcoming newsletter. These might be government-related, candidate, or elected official meetings. Thanks!
Colorado Springs City Council Meetings
Monday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, November 14, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
El Paso County Board of County Commissioner Meetings
Tuesday, November 7, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, November 14, 9:00 a.m.
El Paso County Board of County Commissioners
Centennial Hall
200 S. Cascade
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Colorado Springs Utilities Board of Directors
Wednesday, November 15, 1:00 p.m.
Utilities Board of Directors
Blue River Board Room
Plaza of the Rockies, South Tower, 5th Floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Monday, November 6, 6:00 p.m.
Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Committee
City Hall
107 S. Nevada Avenue, Suite 200
Also, online via Microsoft Teams
Information and Agenda
Thursday, November 9, 6:00 p.m.
Independence Institute Local Government Project Training Workshop
Online via Zoom
Information and registration
View the full Colorado Springs City Council meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Board of El Paso County Commissioners meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings.
View the full Colorado Springs Utilities Board meeting schedule here to see upcoming meetings. Please also follow CSU on social media at their Facebook Page and on Twitter.
Don't forget to subscribe to our You Tube Channel. Since most of the City and County board and commission meetings are not televised or recorded, we are trying to remedy that. We now have a camera and tri-pod for volunteers to check out for future meetings.
If you have a tip about a story in the Pikes Peak region that you aren’t seeing reported, let us know. We will see what we can find out.
How to Contact City and County Officials:
City Hall
107 N. Nevada Avenue
Colorado Springs CO 80903
(719) 385-5986
Contact City Council
Mayor's Office
30 S Nevada Avenue, Suite 601
Colorado Springs, CO 80901
(719) 385-5900
Contact Mayors Office
County Commissioners
200 South Cascade Avenue, Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80903-2202
Phone: (719) 520-7276
https://www.elpasoco.com/contact-us/
Thank you!
Rebecca
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