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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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The special session to address the coming property tax tsunami went about as expected from this legislature and this governor. Seven bills were created from the special session, and not one provided a long-term fix for the property tax issue. Residential and commercial assessment rates were slightly reduced, but the main focus of the session was to redistribute TABOR refunds and also to fund schools with “excess” tax revenue, which is money that would have been your future TABOR refund. Boiling it down, you receive a .065% reduction in your property tax valuation, and they steal $240 million in future TABOR refunds. It appears that the legislature’s primary goal was to buy time to scheme for a larger and more concerted attack on TABOR in the coming 2024 legislative session.
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In the spirit of never letting a crisis they created go to waste, legislators used the special session to set up an income transfer payment scheme to help the “working poor.” Any remaining TABOR refunds will now be distributed “equitably”, and will also be distributed to people who don’t have social security numbers, otherwise known as illegal aliens.
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The Heritage Foundation has a very detailed breakdown of what it means to be poor in America. And being poor in America is not as terrible as you might think.
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As expected, all calls for bipartisan solutions were ignored during the special session. The radical leftists in the Colorado legislature don’t believe that anyone but them should have a voice in government, and your role is to be forced to pay the bill for all their schemes. We no longer have a representative government in Colorado. We have a greedy Marxist mobocracy.
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In summary, the bills passed out of the special session amounted to Proposition HH packaged differently, and a slew of other pet projects for the Marxist left in the legislature. But, don’t take our word for it. Representative Elisabeth Epps admitted this during the special session.
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In total, the Colorado Legislature has a $2 billion wish list of programs they want to enact. Yet, they only have a $23 million budget. Guess what comes next, folks.
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It’s important to note that the coming property tax increase, based on increased home valuations, is all new money to the state. Basically, something good happened to you, and the value of your home increased, so the government gets paid a ton of money it never had before. Even without this new money, the per capita spending in the Colorado government has increased 28% over the last 20 years. Do they really need all this extra money so desperately?
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One avenue of relief for all this tax madness could be local governments. Local governments, school districts, etc. could lower mill levies and give taxpayers a break. We think it’s incumbent upon them to do so, and incumbent upon us to press them to do so. Many local governments and districts are currently reviewing mill levy rates for 2024.
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Do you think you are taxed too much in Colorado? One recent report says that you are correct. Colorado ranks 17th in overall tax burden for taxpaying citizens. What do you see that you're getting in exchange for the taxes you are forced to pay?
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The ludicrous Paid Family Leave program voters approved will begin taking applications for money stolen from other people. This starts in 2024.
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Citizens in Loveland, Colorado passed two initiatives that would oppose taxpayer subsidies for new, private developments. It’s beautiful when taxpayers fight back.
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Meanwhile, in Denver, one Denver city councilmember is resigning from a committee position, stating she sees Mayor Mike Johnston’s approach to homelessness as a “political drama”.
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How does Denver approach the homeless problem? They incentivize it, that’s how they approach it. The super-lucrative Homeless Industrial Complex isn’t going to build itself, folks.
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Denver Mayor Mike Johnston had his car stolen the other day. His car was also stolen in 2017. The jokes write themselves.
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The good people who run the Springs Rescue Mission in town have written a book outlining how they help homeless people with unique solutions, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, or political theater.
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This week in Peak Ridiculousness, the homeless vagrants in Colorado Springs have unionized. You read that correctly. There’s a Colorado Springs Homeless Union now. As we said, peak ridiculousness. What would a strike look like, exactly? Them laying around doing nothing even harder?
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Wolves are already destroying livestock in Colorado, and this is before the wolf importation scheme gets fully underway. You, the taxpayer, will be stuck with the bill for any lost livestock.
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Manitou Springs is considering an ordinance to limit the hours public parks are open. Why have they never needed this ordinance before? We bet you can guess why.
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Manitou Springs is also looking into purchasing a motel in the region to use as parking space.
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The City of Colorado Springs and El Paso County have reached an agreement to have the city maintain and repair traffic signals in the county.
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The City of Colorado Springs has approved the 2024 city budget. This budget includes some department cuts, some personnel raises, and an increased budget overall.
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The answer rates for 911 calls in Colorado Springs are still lagging way behind other agencies in the region. When will this issue be addressed?
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Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson held a town hall on November 29th. We recorded it for you.
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Remember when the Colorado Springs Community Cultural Collective was awarded $250,000 in taxpayer money for their ideas for the Colorado Springs City Auditorium? The Collective has walked away from this project, so the city will keep the $250,000.
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Residents of Mountain Shadows are now dealing with another proposed apartment complex. It's going to be right up against the Garden of the Gods and will have a tremendous impact on any possible evacuation from a wildfire. Here we go again. A community meeting was held, and we recorded it for you.
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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, December 11, 10:00 a.m.
Colorado Springs City Council Work Session
107 N. Nevada, 3rd floor
Live stream link here
Agenda not yet posted
Tuesday, December 12, 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, December 5, 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, December 12, 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
No meetings currently posted
Miscellaneous Meetings of Interest
Monday, December 4, 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
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 YouTube 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 tripod 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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