A recent town council vote moves the TABOR elections to odd
years.
By By: Susan Dage-Ruby
Castle Rock residents will vote in April whether to allow the
town to be exempt from Taxpayers Bill of Rights
restrictions.
A recent town council vote moves the TABOR elections to odd
years.
The decision to change to odd years was partly because of the
proposed second recreation center, which might be on the April 2003
ballot.
The Castle Rock Parks and Recreation Department wants to
de-Bruce its user fees for the center.
“We can’t build a new recreation center without de-Brucing the
recreation center revenues,” said Jay Beeton, communications
manager, “because if we build a new center, and if more people are
paying to participate, that revenue counts against the revenue
limits set by TABOR for the entire town.”
If revenue from the second recreation center puts the town over
the top of TABOR, then money otherwise available to retire the debt
on the second center would be returned to taxpayers, Beeton
said.
“Theoretically, we could build the rec center, but if we’re not
able to keep the revenue it generates, we might not be able to open
it,” said Jeff Hansen, finance director.
The change in the year for TABOR elections doesn’t violate
Article X Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution because the town
hasn’t had a TABOR election since April 2000, said Mark Stevens,
town manager.
Government entities are restricted from having TABOR-related
ballot questions more than once every two years.
TABOR is a state amendment written by anti-tax activist Douglas
Bruce and approved by voters in 1992 that restricts the amount of
tax revenue a government can collect and retain.
The formula for determining the limit uses inflation and
growth.
All revenue in excess of that amount must be returned to
taxpayers unless voters approve an exemption.
To de-Bruce is to ask for an exemption to TABOR
limits.
To date, Castle Rock and Larkspur are the only municipalities
where voters have approved a de-Brucing of excess revenue, Hansen
said in an earlier interview.
The last time the town asked to de-Bruce was in 2000, when
voters told the town it couldn’t keep more than $1.5 million in
excess 1999 revenue.