|
Did You Know?
High
Metro District taxes hurt our home values and businesses
Our taxes paid to
Castle Pines North Metro District CPNMD are one of the highest
in the entire metro Denver area.
An average homeowner
in CPN can save over $500 annually
in taxes with the integration of CPNMD into the City –
without jeopardizing renewable water.
Businesses
pay 3.6 times more
property taxes than a
homeowner on the same assessed value, making the high taxes fatal
to business development in CPN.
Cost
savings opportunities have been ignored
CPNMD has REFUSED to
work with the City of Castle Pines North on the integration plan (a
key cost savings component of incorporation)
The City of Castle
Pines North has sent two letters to CPNMD (one requesting that the
city assume the service plan and the other to engage the joint
working committee to discuss the integration of services) and both
communications were dismissed during a CPNMD Board Meeting.
Lack
of financial transparency and accountability
CPNMD
hired special counsel to fight tax relief – spending $8320 in
September 2009
CPNMD budget includes
$140,000 for un-identified board member projects.
CPNMD funded a
$26,000+ operations study (Gemsbok) and did not survey any
residents.
After
receiving a petition for dissolution, CPNMD hired a public
relations firm paid
for with your tax dollars
($5731
paid in September 2009)
CPNMD collected over
$240,000 in storm water fees. The actual expenditures only totaled
approximately $70,000.
CPNMD financials are
not posted to their web site.
CPNMD financials
include a line item for expenses under $1,000. The detail for these
expenses is not included. Only the total is noted, no details,
names nor services provided.
CPNMD legal counsel,
John E. Hayes, also represents Parker Water & Sanitation
District, which may be at odds with the CPNMD over the Reuter-Hess
reservoir.
Secretive
government
CPNMD
scheduled a “work session” for 7:30 am on August 7,
2009. When residents arrived at 7:30 am, the doors were locked and
the “work session” was taken off-site with no posted
information as
required by the Colorado Open Meetings Law.
|