When they resort to calling us names, we must be making a difference.
In his guest editorial published in the Daily Camera, Boulder City Councilman Macon Cowles took the time to make sure everyone understands that “the LID would include the lien…to eliminate the possibilities of free riders.” We guess he forgot that we paid to build our subdivision roads, gave them to the county for free and then paid our property taxes year after year for minimal seasonal services such as snow plowing and pothole filling. We guess that is the new definition of a “free rider.”
In addition to recycling the same old distortions used by the Boulder County Commissioners (“subdivision residents chose the LID”, “we don’t have the funds to maintain the streets”, “subdivision residents only pay $100 per year for our roads”, “there are only two options to fix our streets the PID or the LID” ……), Cowles took the time to add some new distortions of his own.
Cowles — “11,000 residents of rural subdivisions (3.8 percent of the county’s total population)”
FACT — over 30,000 people live in 10,900 properties in rural subdivisions alone; 50,859 people (17.3 percent of county residents) live in unincorporated Boulder county.
Cowles — “Urban residents pay for rebuilding roads…through their own property taxes.”
FACT — no property owner in the City of Boulder pays one dime more in property taxes than someone living in unincorporated Boulder County for roads and bridges. We all pay the same mill levy for roads and bridges.
Cowles — “Urban residents pay for rebuilding roads…through sales taxes dedicated to transportation”
FACT — every person no matter where they live pays the same sales tax every time they shop in Boulder. And since the City of Boulder has annexed just about every commercial area in the unincorporated county we all pay for the City of Boulder’s roads.
Cowles — “a majority of county residents support the commissioners on this issue”
FACT — just saying something doesn’t make it true. There is absolutely no data to support this statement by Cowles. In fact every bit of information available to Cowles, straw polls, multiple ballot issues, comments at public hearings, support just the opposite conclusion.
But more importantly Cowles ignores the biggest fact of all in the Subdivision Paving LID debate. That fact being that the Boulder County commissioners have made a conscious choice to deliberately divert property tax revenue from the road and bridge fund. This choice impacts all county and city residents. When the commissioners reduce the amount of our mill levy they allocate for the county road and bridge fund, they simultaneously reduce road funding for the unincorporated areas of the county and for the cities.
For by law the portion of our mill levy the commissioners decide to put into the county road and bridge fund is shared 50/50 with the cities specifically for maintenance of all roads. And since we all pay the same county mill levy this requirement makes sense to just about everyone except it seems the commissioners and Cowles.
As a result, City of Boulder residents were convinced in last November’s election to approve a “Rube Goldberg”-like scheme to fund road maintenance.
Step 1. Approve a new road maintenance sales tax through 2019 (Ballot issue 2B).
Step 2. Divert money from open space to road maintenance from 2020 through 2039 (Ballot issue 2D).
Step 3. Extend a different open space sales tax starting in 2019 (Ballot issue 2C).
So in case you are unaware of the county and city’s game plan here it is.
Under fund essential services.
Divert the money to non-essential services.
Tell residents that in order to maintain essential services, we need to pay more sales tax and/or more property taxes.
And if we say “no” to new taxes, assessments will be imposed without our approval.
This is why our effort to stop the Subdivision LID is important for all Boulder County residents; not just those who are directly impacted. What is happening to us could easily happen next to you and your neighbors.
Chuck Wibby is the chairman of Boulder County FIRM.
