After the demotion of the CPN City Treasurer, which was extensively reported on in the last edition of the Castle Pines Connection, recent inquiries have revealed that the City owes over $1,500,000 to various entities, most of it in contractual obligations to consulting firms and lawyers.
In an effort to obtain desperately needed funds, the City recently requested jurisdiction over the local water provider, the CPN Metro District. The District is funded by your tax dollars. The City’s plan would divert tax revenues needed for water to other municipal uses and transfer management of our local parks to a multinational corporation.
A July 14 letter from the mayor to the District requested the “incremental integration of services and functions of the District within the City.” Much like a python eats a pig, the City plans to swallow the District whole and digest it bit by bit.
In evaluating the City’s ability to wisely manage the operations and revenues of the District, consider the following:
- Until June, the City was paying $160,629 per month for city management services from CH2M Hill. This amount was recently reduced to $79,124 per month. Taxpayers can applaud the cost reductions, but city expenditures were irrationally high from the outset and spending continues to exceed revenue.
- As reported in June issue of The Castle Pines Connection, City Council "stripped the city treasurer of virtually all power" and appointed a deputy treasurer citing “a lack of confidence in financial disclosure and transparency.”
- Four former members of the CPN Master Association, now city officials, authorized a loan of $200,000 from the public funds of the Master Homeowners Association. Those same individuals now resist paying the balance of the money back despite earlier public promises to do so.
- The City has enacted 12 ordinances which require the payment of a fee or tax. This occurred after campaign promises of “no new property taxes for any CPN resident.”
I have confidence that the CPN Metro District can responsibly manage water resources, provide renewable water for the future, and manage our parks and open space. Until the City lives up to its promise of transparency in government and demonstrates some measure of fiscal responsibility, I cannot advocate the transfer of millions of dollars of tax revenues from the District to the City.
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