|
|||||||
|
Taxes - Who pays for What? Douglas County has seen in the last year a slower rate of growth and has responded by carefully analyzing all departments needs while balancing the budget. With only vague economic predictions as background, the county requested all departments to flat line their budgets and forgo any new staff for the year. This is a wonderful example of a government responding to the economic changes. In good times, government growth should not necessarily parallel the growth in the economy. Government must learn to do more with less, just as in the private sector. While on the Castle Rock Town Council it was also my duty to review and understand where our money was being spent based on real needs. It is my personal philosophy that we must be very careful in the expansion of government, and I will carry this belief in my role as a county commissioner. The tax structure in Colorado is quite different than in other states which were “built out” many years ago. Historically, Douglas County and most of Colorado has developed through Metropolitan Districts, with the specific task of ensuring new development is paying its way, and that many local services are provided in a direct way to homeowners through these districts, In addition, we have a healthy commercial base that helps to pay (at a higher rate than homeowners) for our schools, roads, fire protection, police protection and other local services. The good news is that Douglas County has been successful in diversifying our tax base, and this also supports our citizens jobs near to home. In addition, we have a strong retail sales tax base through two successful shopping malls in our county where shoppers from outside our county shop. In other words we are enjoying their contributions to our tax base. For homeowners or property owners, the property tax bill is sent in January. Two things determine the amount of a particular property's tax bill: the property's taxable assessment and the tax rates of the taxing jurisdictions in which the property is located. The mill levy over which the commissioners have jurisdiction have stayed the same since 1992, as valuations have continued to rise. As our growth curve slows down, we need to reevaluate the county's budgetary needs for road-building, stop lights, local amenity upgrades, etc., to determine the appropriate time to lower the mill levy. The balancing act of determining taxes is not as easy one, particularly in a growing environment. On one hand you may pay more in property taxes to live in an area with good schools, leafy parks and well-maintained streets. On the other (assuming our tax dollars are spent wisely) you reap the benefits of those taxes. When it's time to sell, you'll be able to ask more for your property because of its great location and secure and maintained streets, etc. However, government should be very careful to not over-extend itself and should spend every dollar with great caution. I compare it to the challenges my husband and I face monthly when we review our revenues and expenses. Rarely do we see eye to eye on how to spend it and invariably we wish we had just a little more for our future. I believe in being accountable to you, our citizens and customers. All records should be available and open for your review and better yet, any of our department heads should spend time with any citizen and should show you specific information based on your requests. Recently, a senior citizen visited the Clerk & Recorder office to register his vehicle. While he was there he visited with our employees and had many more questions about other departments in the county. He shared with us he was enjoying his retirement and was now making time to investigate the many questions he had about why we, as his county government, were spending in specific areas. We answered all of the questions we could about the Clerk & Recorder office and then called the county's budget department and were told there was a meeting being held at that very time and he was welcome to sit in and ask any questions he wished. He did so and visited with our office later to thank us for all of our help. I look forward to being the steward of your tax dollars to create a lean, mean government that delivers the service you deserve in a timely, efficient, and friendly form. |
|