Budget

Mill Levy Increase Despite Millions Lost on Emory Sale Raises Trust Issues

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on February 6, 2026Posted in Budget, Community, JeffcoTagged appraisal, budget, education, Jeffco Schools, mill levy, property value, real estate, test scores, transparency, trust, zoning

Jeffco Schools has determined that they need a mill levy increase and are looking for ways to market that decision to residents. However, the way the district closed and sold Emory Elementary demonstrates a decision-making process that doesn’t examine the root cause of problems. From the first, Jeffco schools showed a willingness to craft narratives using a select set of facts for a predetermined output. As shown by the eleven points below, select facts are not the full story. Withholding the full story and losing money makes residents question whether Jeffco Schools can be trusted with more money in a mill levy increase.

Jeffco Point #1: Emory was closed due to declining enrollment amidst a budget deficit.

SUNLIGHT: At the time of closure, Emory ranked #1741 out of 1748 Colorado schools. Declining enrollment coincided with a steep decrease in test scores. Alternative solutions include raising test scores, which Jeffco proved unable to do since 2015. Good schools are a driver for home sales. Without good schools, new families don’t move in or enroll in other choice schools. Ultimately, poor performance was the reason for closure, not the budget.

Lakewood Violates TABOR Promises to Voters

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on February 3, 2026Posted in Budget, Elections, TransparencyTagged broken promise, business tax, excess revenue, misinformation, refund, tabor

There is no dispute that the City of Lakewood must comply with a recent Colorado Supreme Court ruling requiring repayment of illegally collected Business and Occupation taxes. However, the way Lakewood is paying that refund has raised concerns that voters were misled about how their TABOR money would be used.

City staff and Council presented the TABOR Fund as the only option available. However, the TABOR Fund is a Lakewood-created accounting mechanism, not a requirement of state law or the court decision. Lakewood could have paid the refund from the General Fund. Instead, on January 26, 2026, City Council voted to take money from the TABOR Fund that had been explicitly promised to voter-approved purposes.

Lakewood Withheld Financial Information While Spending on Controversial Projects

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on January 30, 2026Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy, TransparencyTagged budget, Colorado, Colorado Supreme Court, discretionary spending, fiscal responsibility, Lakewood, Metro PCS, pet projects, tabor, taxes, transparency, unelected bureaucrats

On September 8, 2025, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled against Lakewood in an important court case against Metro PCS. As a result, Lakewood now owes around $42 million in tax refunds to Metro PCS and other cell phone carriers. That was big news, but what happened after the court decision is just as important.

Lakewood withheld the financial ramifications of the Metro PCS court decision during crucial budget planning. Although Lakewood didn’t know the total amount involved, the staff was aware that they would have to refund millions of dollars to the cell phone companies. Yet there was no public presentation of possible impacts during the crucial September and October budgeting months. Instead, Lakewood spent millions on controversial projects as soon as they could. Millions that could have gone toward the mandated refund.

Aguilar: City reckons with ruling, faces $42M fiscal hole

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on January 20, 2026Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy, TransparencyTagged 42M, Aguilar, court ruling, denver post, MetroPCS, tabor

Repost from John Aguilar, Denver Post
Lakewood is about face a costly reckoning with the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights — to the tune of more than $42 million.

That’s the amount the state’s fifth-largest city has calculated it owes to dozens of cell phone carriers and telecommunications companies it wrongfully taxed for years. The bill is now coming due after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last year that the city had violated TABOR, a state constitutional amendment, by levying a business and occupation tax without first obtaining voter approval.

Jeffco Schools Wants a Mill Levy Increase

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on December 7, 2025Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy, JeffcoTagged budget, Dorland, Jeffco Schools, Kenworthy, mill levy, property taxes, revenue

Recent meetings from the Jeffco School Board Partnership for Fiscal Sustainability discussed raising the mill levy and how to market that decision to residents. This demonstrates yet another government body shaping propaganda to support a future ballot measure. Jeffco Schools, like Lakewood and Jefferson County, hired a consultant to help with a mill levy question. At this point, a community survey has asked about revenue generation. Budget presentations show data about raising the levy. Budget reductions are discussed as a part of the solution.

The point of these meetings was to “prepare and involve the community to support future revenue generation,” as seen in the slide below. This is using district resources to get resident support in what will likely be a ballot question on the mill levy. School communications are also a tool to discuss any upcoming cuts or revenue changes.

Council Finally Votes on RTD Bridge Spending

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on July 8, 2025Posted in Budget, TransparencyTagged bridge, budget, RTD, Shahrezaei

Lakewood City Council will finally vote to spend money on fixing the bridge lights for RTD on July 14. This controversial measure was delayed twice before because of the high price tag for fixtures that do not belong to Lakewood. Now, City Council is scheduled to vote on a resolution to fund this measure through an Intergovernmental Agreement with RTD. It will be on the consent agenda so it doesn’t get discussed, just agreed to, unless someone pulls it for special consideration. As reported in “Shahrezaei’s Bridge Lights“, there are issues to consider, such as why Lakewood would pay for property not owned by Lakewood. Lakewood has recently de-TABORed because they cannot stay within budget without extra money and is looking at eliminating printed newsletters to save money. These measures are evidence that Lakewood does not have money to waste on RTD issues. The staff memo states, “Public outreach for the funding associated with the current IGA amendment was included in the public budget adoption process last year.” At that time, public sentiment was so against the measure that it was not approved, just like it was NOT approved the year before. But now, with little fanfare and no regular agenda discussion session, it’s back. The budget for the lights has come down since it was initially proposed. Originally budgeted for $800,000, which covers the full cost of the lighting, the new agreement splits the costs evenly with RTD, with each party capped at $500,000. In exchange for funding the lighting, Lakewood will be able to help choose the display color.

Sacrificing Neighborhoods Allows Homeless Funding

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on July 3, 2025Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy, Homeless, Statewide, SustainabilityTagged affordable housing, Colorado, free money, home rule, Lakewood, navigation center, zoning code

Why the big rush to change the zoning code? Follow the money. The money trail leads to state grant funding, which primarily supports homeless and sustainability initiatives. Without that agenda, Lakewood could decide for itself which, if any, of the state initiatives make sense locally. Colorado has decided to override local zoning in a power grab against local home rule. Other cities are fighting back against Colorado with legal cases. But Lakewood will not fight for home rule. They are not only implementing the state law but going further in densification, all while citing the need to comply with state law Lakewood receives millions of dollars in state grants for initiatives like sustainability and the new navigation center. The purchase and renovation of the old Harley Davidson building was done using state grants. To continue funding sustainability and homeless initiatives, Lakewood must either fund it internally (a political impossibility) or comply with state zoning codes. And if the state zoning codes are not what Lakewood residents had in mind when they discussed “affordable housing” solutions, that’s a sacrifice Lakewood is willing to make on your behalf. Note: For the purposes of this article, “Lakewood” means the majority opinion of city officials. It is hard to tell who is speaking in public workshops, there is a lot of backroom personal communications, as well as conflicting explanations given in ward meetings. To establish personal beliefs, please contact your city official with detailed questions that are beyond the scope of this article. Lakewood’s proposed zoning code sacrifices existing neighborhood stability in the hopes of creating affordable housing. Occupancy limits everywhere are eliminated so there can be 20, unrelated, non-owner residents in a house. The house nextdoor may be torn down and replaced with a duplex or a cottage court*. Small retail is now allowed, mixing business with residential. Every property in Lakewood is now a transition zone. *Cottage Court: According to a 2022 report from AARP, cottage courts are defined as a small collection of bungalow-style homes that are “typically 1 to 1½ stories tall and are oriented around a courtyard that serves as an outdoor community space in lieu of rear yards.” – HousingWIre There is no guarantee that any of these changes will achieve their desired goals. Studies abound on both sides. However, Lakewood has already been promised affordable housing since the 2012 zoning rewrite that spawned the term “Soviet-style apartment blocks” with zero new “affordable” units created. Is there any reason to think this big change will be different? Lakewood’s proposed zoning code is not ready for first reading yet, so residents don’t know all the details. The latest redline is from May 19. However, residents do know that know matter what is in there, it is good and necessary because City Council passed a resolution saying so in December of 2024. Lakewood’s navigation center is a contentious issue that hinged largely on the ability to get “free money” from the state. Many homeless and sustainability measures that were supported by the state did not go through a full public policy debate because that wasn’t necessary if Lakewood wasn’t spending its own money. Now that decision is coming back to haunt Lakewood residents, who will be paying for that money by sacrificing their neighborhood stability.

What Is the Government Solution to Homeless

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on April 27, 2025Posted in Budget, Crime, Development, Homeless, TransparencyTagged 14th, encampment, Homeless, navigation center, taxes, Vance, wadsworth

Lakewood residents reach out for a government solution to homeless encampments, as written about on kdvr.com by Alliyah Sims. Lakewood says encampments like these are the reason to open more shelters and offer more resources. But not everyone takes the resources offered. The problem, as noted in the article, is that these encampments (not all) are located in an area that caters to homeless. Lakewood’s Navigation Center is half a mile away, the Action Center less than a mile away, outpatient services near this encampment at 14th and Vance, and others close by. But what if the unhoused do not want the resources provided? Governments can force taxpayers to provide resources but they can’t force people to utilize them as intended. Lakewood police say help has been offered but not often accepted. As the author of San Fransicko wrote, ““Homeless is a propaganda word” because it also describes the open-drug scene. Because when you say homeless you think it’s a housing problem and people who only have housing problems are the easiest populations to help. The overwhelming problem with the homeless is street addiction and untreated mental health crises.” – Michael Shellenberger Cities like San Francisco and Denver have been experimenting with government solutions but the only continuing metric of success is the amount of people served and money spent. The increasing number of homeless in these cities is disregarded as irrelevant. From kdvr.com: “Neighbors living in Lakewood are calling for the city to come up with a permanent solution to homeless encampments popping up in their neighborhoods. “They say the sites near 14th Avenue and Vance Street have been a problem within the last year, but they have seen it grow with the recent cleanup at the 6th Avenue and Wadsworth Boulevard interchange that happened last week.‘Long time coming’: Lakewood homeless encampment cleared “Lakewood police say while they are aware of the camp, they can not confirm if it’s the same people from the 6th and Wadsworth clean-up. “They say they offered help to everyone living there, but a lot of times it’s just not accepted, creating an endless cycle. “I’ve been at this location for almost 10 years now, and we love the work we do and love helping others,” said Marie Archambault.” Read the full article….

Site Plan for the Ex-Superfund Landfill

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on March 24, 2025Posted in Budget, Development, Entrenched Bureaucracy, SustainabilityTagged Fed Center, landfill, Lincoln Properties, site plan, The Bend

Thanks to a Lakewood Informer reader and local resident, the site plan for The Bend has been revealed! Contrary to previous reporting, plans have indeed been laid but when discussed in public meetings, those plans were “punted” till later. The north half was not a focus for the City because the planning department granted the developer a phased development status since remediation plans have not been set. Our reader supplied a full list of instructions to access this information online, which were not provided with Lakewood’s CORA response. To view the plans, the public must register with the eTRAKiT site and login. The address associated with the project is 11601 W 2nd Pl. In eTRAKiT, search for the following project numbers: The master plan reveals the area north of 4th Ave that is currently labeled “do not disturb” will eventually have more residential housing than the south end, totaling about 2000, rather than 2000 only on the south end. There is currently no public plan for remediation or start times while the developer, Lincoln Properties, works to secure the pieces necessary to get a metropolitan district approved. The metro district will be used as a funding mechanism, rather than a service mechanism, and nothing can proceed without funding. The difference between a funding mechanism and service mechanism is important because metropolitan districts are granted government privileges based on providing public services. To get any kind of infrastructure built on the landfill, the site will need remediation. The safety of the future residents would dictate that full site remediation be completed before building. It’s possible the profits from the south side will be used to fund the north side, or be used to repay developer investment before moving on to the more costly north side. A bank or private investors might demand remediation first since the success and cost of remediation will dictate overall project success. Federal grants are available to assist, which in this case is only right since the federal government caused the contamination. State grants are also available, many of which are pass-through for federal funds. Much of the rest of the funding will come through Lakewood’s Urban Renewal financing and metro district bonds. With Lakewood-approved, government-backed guarantees through metro districts, the developer can privatize the benefits while socializing the risks. The benefit to the public will be the ability to live on this revitalized land. In this case, there is no public living there and asking for a democratic vote on public services. Those future residents are depending on the city to represent their interests. There is no direct representation for taxation.

Update: Manager’s Salary Even Higher

By Lakewood News from KarenPosted on March 23, 2025Posted in Budget, Entrenched Bureaucracy

Lakewood resident Bob Adams brings receipts! Lakewood Informer news stated that City Manager Cathy Hodgson made a base salary of $280,000, as stated during the December 19, 2022 City Council meeting. Mr. Adams made an open records request to find out that the City Manager’s 2024 annual base salary was $335,949. This does not include benefits. The adjustment could be year-over-year increases, which would be a 20% increase over two years. It could also be that the original $280,000 stated during council meetings was incorrect, if so, my apologies. Many City Councilors justify this high salary based on Manager Hodgson’s 15 years of experience. There is, understandably, no public discussion on personnel matters. However, the review used to be tied to a metric like resident satisfaction. With declining satisfaction, the resident survey came out with less frequency and is no longer a performance metric. From Bob Adams, 2023, open records request from Lakewood: