Denver Gets Ripped Off Every Day which costs taxpayers
For those of us that own commecial property in Denver, most of us feel that property taxes are excessive. There are many examples of properties that are over burdened with ridiculous property tax liability. Most people approach the problem with the solution of slashing government spending so that the government won't need as much money therefore reducing property taxes.
We all know that government is bloated and wasteful, but even if there was a freeze on spending and thousands of layoffs, our taxes probably would not be affected. There are many reasons our taxes wouldn't be affected, but mostly because the majority of collected property taxes go to schools. So unless the education budget is cut in 1/2 our taxes won't go down. Cutting Education funding is the last thing we need.
The solution is to get more revenue to the schools so that there can be some relief on the property owner. So how is that possible? It is not only possible, but the solution makes sense and it is fair. That solution is for The City of Denver to put on its business hat and to start charging out of county users appropriate prices for the use of all of Denver's facilities.
There are hundreds of examples of where people out of Denver get the same deal as Denver citizens and the property owners are subsidizing these people through their property taxes. Here are a few examples and although they might sound far fetched, it makes sense because Denver Citizens have paid for all these great amenities and out of county people get to use them at no additional cost.
Examples of Denver getting ripped off:
1. Out of County Bronco, Nuggets, Rockies and Avalanche Fans have the same privileges to use the stadiums as Denverites, yet it is Denver that provides all the security, all the trash pickup, the snow removal to get to the games. Our property taxes help pay for some of these services. If your personal address isn't in Denver your ticket should be 10% higher.
2. Water districts that purchase water from Denver need to step up to the plate and pay way more for all that Denver provides. Sure this will cost the homeowner higher water charges, but if they don't pay more than the Denver property tax payers get to subsidize
3. People that visit the Libraries and Museums that don't live in Denver, need to pay way more for their tickets. This might cut down the number of people that use these facilities, but not much. Millions of people will still go to the Zoo, the Museums and the Downtown Library.
4. How about the Airport? The single greatest development project ever in the State and Denver put up most of the money, effort, police etc. If you live in Englewood, your parking ticket should be 10% higher. Your plane ticket should be 10% higher. Perhaps even the sales tax on items purchased should be tiered the Denver rate and the Out of County rate.
5. Why does the City of Denver just give the Alley to a Developer if he owns both sides of the block? A city block is 400 feet long and an alley is 16 feet wide. This is over 6,000 square fee of land that someone gets from the City for free? At $100/ft that is $600,000 the city should collect for that tract of land.
Denver is an incredible City to live and work in and if one takes the time to look at all that draws people to Denver there should be a charge or assessment for the privilege. It was our Mayor and our City staff that put DIA together over a 5 year span. I didn't see a bill going out to Jeffco for the salaries of these people to make DIA a reality. However, the new airport has generated billions in revenues to every county in the State directly or indirectly.
It is possible that other counties might feel that they should charge out of county users higher fees too. Bring it on! What County has anything like Denver? Why not put that $5.00 surcharge on those people bringing their kids to the Zoo? I don't mind paying an extra $5.00 for Buff tickets since I don't live in Boulder County and love to go to Buff games.
We need to think about the fact that Denver is taken advantage of. We need to get more money to the schools so that the burden can be reduced on commercial property owners.
We all know that government is bloated and wasteful, but even if there was a freeze on spending and thousands of layoffs, our taxes probably would not be affected. There are many reasons our taxes wouldn't be affected, but mostly because the majority of collected property taxes go to schools. So unless the education budget is cut in 1/2 our taxes won't go down. Cutting Education funding is the last thing we need.
The solution is to get more revenue to the schools so that there can be some relief on the property owner. So how is that possible? It is not only possible, but the solution makes sense and it is fair. That solution is for The City of Denver to put on its business hat and to start charging out of county users appropriate prices for the use of all of Denver's facilities.
There are hundreds of examples of where people out of Denver get the same deal as Denver citizens and the property owners are subsidizing these people through their property taxes. Here are a few examples and although they might sound far fetched, it makes sense because Denver Citizens have paid for all these great amenities and out of county people get to use them at no additional cost.
Examples of Denver getting ripped off:
1. Out of County Bronco, Nuggets, Rockies and Avalanche Fans have the same privileges to use the stadiums as Denverites, yet it is Denver that provides all the security, all the trash pickup, the snow removal to get to the games. Our property taxes help pay for some of these services. If your personal address isn't in Denver your ticket should be 10% higher.
2. Water districts that purchase water from Denver need to step up to the plate and pay way more for all that Denver provides. Sure this will cost the homeowner higher water charges, but if they don't pay more than the Denver property tax payers get to subsidize
3. People that visit the Libraries and Museums that don't live in Denver, need to pay way more for their tickets. This might cut down the number of people that use these facilities, but not much. Millions of people will still go to the Zoo, the Museums and the Downtown Library.
4. How about the Airport? The single greatest development project ever in the State and Denver put up most of the money, effort, police etc. If you live in Englewood, your parking ticket should be 10% higher. Your plane ticket should be 10% higher. Perhaps even the sales tax on items purchased should be tiered the Denver rate and the Out of County rate.
5. Why does the City of Denver just give the Alley to a Developer if he owns both sides of the block? A city block is 400 feet long and an alley is 16 feet wide. This is over 6,000 square fee of land that someone gets from the City for free? At $100/ft that is $600,000 the city should collect for that tract of land.
Denver is an incredible City to live and work in and if one takes the time to look at all that draws people to Denver there should be a charge or assessment for the privilege. It was our Mayor and our City staff that put DIA together over a 5 year span. I didn't see a bill going out to Jeffco for the salaries of these people to make DIA a reality. However, the new airport has generated billions in revenues to every county in the State directly or indirectly.
It is possible that other counties might feel that they should charge out of county users higher fees too. Bring it on! What County has anything like Denver? Why not put that $5.00 surcharge on those people bringing their kids to the Zoo? I don't mind paying an extra $5.00 for Buff tickets since I don't live in Boulder County and love to go to Buff games.
We need to think about the fact that Denver is taken advantage of. We need to get more money to the schools so that the burden can be reduced on commercial property owners.
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