LAKEWOOD INFORMER

Lakewood Informer will be hosting a candidate forum for Lakewood’s Mayoral Candidates. It will be a recorded conversation posted by 10 am on October 4th. Cathy Kentner and Don Burkhart have both agreed to participate. Wendi Strom is unable to join us. If you have questions, please submit them to thedesk@lakewoodinformer.com for consideration. Thank you, candidates, for your participation in this new setting that will be available to all Lakewood residents.

from Guest Commentator Tom Dearth Belmar Commons is a small 45-unit patio home development on Yarrow Street near Alameda and Wadsworth. It is across from the Belmar Library and the Beautiful Belmar Park/Bird Sanctuary.  There are plans to begin construction on a 5-story, 412 unit apartment building on Yarrow, a narrow curved street with only 2 emergency exit routes to Wadsworth. The emergency evacuation issues have been ignored and the people currently living in the area had no idea this was going to be built until it was “a done deal!” Issues: • If there were ever a Marshal-type fire or Lahaina, Hawaii fire from the overgrowth in the park west of Yarrow street, we would not be able to evacuate the area and the first responders would not be able to get in. With 500 or more additional cars on that 3-block curved street, we would not stand a chance of evacuating. When this concern was brought up at a city planners meeting, the response was that the new building would have sprinkler systems, an answer that seems to suggest there will never be an emergency. • The REAL concern is that if there were hundreds of cars on Yarrow Street during an evacuation, there would be no way for any emergency vehicles to get in or out of the area. The residents of Belmar Commons would not be able to use their only exit onto Yarrow Street. That scene would resemble the after effect of burned-out cars in Lahaina, HI. We were...

from Guest Commentator Tom Dearth Belmar Commons is a small 45-unit patio home development on Yarrow Street near Alameda and Wadsworth. It is across from the Belmar Library and the Beautiful Belmar Park/Bird Sanctuary.  There are plans to begin construction on a 5-story, 412 unit apartment building on Yarrow, a narrow curved street with only 2 emergency exit routes to Wadsworth. The emergency evacuation issues have been ignored and the people currently living in the area had no idea this was going to be built until it was “a done deal!” Issues: • If there were ever a Marshal-type fire or Lahaina, Hawaii fire from the overgrowth in the park west of Yarrow street, we would not be able to evacuate the area and the first responders would not be able to get in. With 500 or more additional cars on that 3-block curved street, we would not stand a chance of evacuating. When this concern was brought up at a city planners meeting, the response was that the new building would have sprinkler systems, an answer that seems to suggest there will never be an emergency. • The REAL concern is that if there were hundreds of cars on Yarrow Street during an evacuation, there would be no way for any emergency vehicles to get in or out of the area. The residents of Belmar Commons would not be able to use their only exit onto Yarrow Street. That scene would resemble the after effect of burned-out cars in Lahaina, HI. We were...

from Complete Colorado Whether the hideous hoax Proposition HH passes or fails at Colorado’s November ballot, local governments including towns, cities, special districts, and schools must lower their 2023 mill levy this fall to avoid taxpayer suffering in January 2024 when tax bills are sent out. In each Colorado local government, there are elected members. Those local elected representatives set and vote on the mill levy for their respective districts in October or November each year. When the elected bodies meet to set the mill rate, they take public comment. I would suggest reaching out to your elected representatives before the meeting. After the body votes, they notify the county assessor of the tax rate by December 15, 2023 and that’s what gets charged on the January 2024 property tax bill. Read more…

Lakewood City Council Member Mary Janssen announced she will be proposing a mill levy decrease in an upcoming meeting. As seen in the video, her proposal is based on getting tax relief for Lakewood residents. Lakewood’s current mill levy is 7.411 and she is considering proposals to reduce the rate to between 2.5 and 3.6. According to Janssen, Lakewood has added a variety of different taxes in the recent past, such as internet taxes, delivery taxes and taxes on some food products, as well as currently retaining all TABOR refunds. City Council can lower the mill levy without a vote of the people so it is within Council’s power to provide this relief. Council Member Olver signaled his support for such a measure. “If we sit back and do nothing, we’re letting a double-digit tax hike sucker punch Lakewood citizens when they’re already winded.” Councilor Mary Janssen

When you run out of money for your expensive spending habits, you might self-evaluate. Responsible people, find ways to cut costs or perhaps hire a financial advisor. Lakewood and Jefferson County have both opted for a different path – spend money on a consultant to research potentially successful ballot arguments to let the government keep taxpayer TABOR refunds. The government cannot legally spend money campaigning on ballot initiatives. However, by starting before they put the measure on the ballot, Lakewood and Jeffco have months to figure out how to shape the narrative – and use your tax dollars to do it. As long as they don’t know it will be on the ballot, use of funds in what could be a “pre-campaign” or “fact-finding” effort is legal. Once the measure is on the ballot, use of funds must be stopped immediately. “no public funds, including County staff time working with the Consultant under the contract, will be expended as of the moment in which the Board of County Commissioners makes a decision to move forward with any ballot initiative. no public funds may be spent advocating for a ballot issue once a decision has been made. Therefore, all terms of this contract must be completed before the Board of County Commissioners decides whether or not to move forward with any ballot recommendations made by the Consultant.” – excerpt from Jeffco draft contract excerpt from the Jefferson County draft contract Lakewood’s Budget and Audit Committee has already agreed the City needs...