City Council Meeting packed...

On March 12, 2024, citizens packed the city council chambers to voice their concerns about the cost of housing immigrants that have already done great harm to the City and County of Denver who are unable to afford the cost of housing a flood of immigrants.

Looking back at the City Council's Focus Session on March 1-2, Councilmember Henkel's summary "Immigrant Friendly Cities Programming" stated, "And, although Broomfield has its own war-torn past that created refugees in the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes, we are on the map now as a place of refuge for those fleeing violence worldwide due to an overwhelming and patriotic volunteerism within our own community, especially those following their faith values."

We don't know about you, but we pretty sure that Broomfield was not a city at the of this "war torn" activity, (Broomfield was incorporated as a city in 1961), and no one was born when it happened. Times change and we are a different society now. Not only that, but Broomfield is a very welcoming city, contrary to what Councilmember Henkel would like people to believe. We can all agree that immigration brings people to America that want to enrich our society and work hard to have the American dream. However, when people come here and break our laws to live here and then become a drain on society, the society won't last long.

Back to the March 12 City Council meeting, 20+ residents spoke to the council and a chamber full of concerned citizens. The OVERWHELMING sentiment showed that Broomfield is, in fact, a welcoming community to immigrants, highlighting the non-profits that help those in Broomfield. This was a clear rebuke to Councilmember Henkel's opinion that Broomfield is “not a welcoming community”. Residents want the City Council to focus on Broomfield's real priorities, not a political agenda.

Property Tax Reform

Broomfield Mayor Castriotta sat on the "Commission on Property Tax" to replace the 5 property tax bills passed in November last year. Proposition HH was "the bait-and-shaft tax hike disguised as a tax cut that Colorado voters rejected by an 18-point margin only weeks earlier."

This commission recently proposed a 10-point plan they are considering for property tax reform. Here are those points:

1. Keep the solution for this year, a subtraction of $55,000 from each home’s actual value and a 6.7% assessment rate
2. Reduce the nonresidential property tax rate which is set at 27.9% this year and then drop it to 26.8% in 2025, 25.7% in 2027 and 25.5% in 2029
3. A flexible cap which could rise by a variable such as population increase plus consumer price index (CPI)
4. Offering a tax reduction on their primary home
5. Means-tested relief
6. Separate out property tax for schools and local governments
7. Allow property owners to pay their bills in 12 monthly increments rather than in one large lump sum
8. A “smoothing” option under which portions of property-tax revenue increases above a certain level could be paid over a multi-year period
9. Allow homeowners to defer payment of as much as $10,000 in property taxes if valuations rise more than 4%
10. A “participatory taxation” mandate that would require local governments tohold public meetings informing property owners if taxes are going to rise above a certain level

These proposals are headed to the State legislature. And it's pretty clear that for the most part, the direction from the property tax commission is for local and state governments to keep as much "revenue" from Colorado's historically high property taxes, not to help taxpayers.

Recycling in Colorado...more fees

In 2022, the Colorado State Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, HB22-1355 - Producer Responsibility Program For Recycling.

The actual cost for the bill is now coming due, as it appears that it will cost the state of Colorado more than $310 million to implement a mandatory recycling program. This program will be setup to be paid for by consumer-packaging producers, but as we all know by now, will be passed onto the consumer --- us.

So, what's happening in Broomfield in this regard? The Broomfield City and County of Broomfield is pushing through a single-hauler tax proposal. Their latest step was to request an an executive session on "City Contracted Waste Services/Universal Collection" which we noted in our March 11th newsletter.

We expect further actions, including study sessions and new municipal ordinances to force you into their Universal waste/collection program. This will be happening at the time where cost of living and inflation continue to increase because of all the legislature bills passed over the last several years. And, remember that their philosophy is that they think they know better than you how to spend your money even though none of our councilmembers have anymore experience than you.

Start preparing and be ready to make your voice heard on this issue. We will continue to share information on this council lead initiative as it becomes available, including their next steps and what you can do to push back on their agenda.

How fast could the economy turn around?

Argentina suffered under left-wing policies for decades. In December, 2023 inflation was 25.5%.

In February, after reforms, the inflation rate was 13.2%, and they just recorded their budget surplus of $589 million. How did this happen in Argentina?

Argentina's new President Javier Milei is cutting federal spending while implementing policies slashing bureaucracy, eliminating government publicity campaigns, reducing transportation subsidies, pausing all monetary transfers to local governments, and devaluing the peso.

Remember, the government only takes your money and the more they take from you, the less money you have to pursue your happiness, live your life, and have liberty free from tyranny. All of the programs implemented by the federal, state, and local government may sound good, but there is probably a private solution to the expansion of government.

Government's only job is to protect individual rights. It is not to provide housing, or give jobs or provide for immigrants or asylum seekers. These are solutions can and should be provided by private organizations, businesses, and non-profits where we as free people can help as we see fit.

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