2 Highlands Ranch Herald
October 25, 2012
Budget time approaches in Ranch Metro District, HRCA look ahead to November By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com As November approaches, budgets are dominating the discussion at both the Highlands Ranch Metro District and in the Highlands Ranch Community Association. According to HRMD General Manager Terry Nolan, overall operation costs are up preliminarily 4.3 percent in the Metro District budget. This is due, he said, to in-
creases in wages and benefits as well as a few staffing changes from temporary to full time to keep up with needs in the parks and the senior community. “The No. 1 message I have about this budget is that it maintains the goal of the board to pay off our debt six years early in 2018,” Nolan said, adding that property tax revenues are up 0.8 percent this year. The proposed budget is available in its entirety on the front page of the Metro District website at www.highlandsranch. org and a public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 27 at the district office, 62 Plaza Drive in Highlands Ranch. And while jobs are being added and pay increased in the Metro District, the news is not as sunny in the proposed budget for the HRCA, as salaries will be
impacted due to rising benefit costs. Board chairman Scott Lemmon said this is likely a temporary setback, however, and anticipates salaries increasing at a normal clip again in about three years once benefit increases have stabilized. “We understand that this is not going to be popular with employees,” Lemmon said at the most recent delegate meeting on Oct. 16. “Employees are still the greatest asset to our organization. But we have to make sure we are at a good foundation, at a good point when it comes to compensation.” Following an hourlong presentation by HRCA controller Harry Daughters and Lemmon on the proposed budget at the meeting, there wound up being no vote on whether to recommend approval to
the board of directors due to the inability to reach a quorum. An unusual situation for an HRCA meeting, not having enough delegates for a quorum, the lack of attendance was thought by board members to be due to Douglas County School District’s fall break as well as the timeliness of the second Obama-Romney debate that aired live that same night during the meeting. With a necessity of passing the budget in November, if there is once again no quorum reached at the Nov. 20 meeting — two days before Thanksgiving — the board will find itself in a situation where they will have to vote to approve the budget without a recommendation from the delegate body. The entire proposed HRCA budget is available online at www.hrcaonline.org.
SO MUCH INSIDE THE HERALD THIS WEEK Cutting costs. In an area not often associated with discount stores, Savers and Dollar Tree are drawing lots of customers. Page 4
Bright outlook. KEZW has become the second radio station in the country to harvest its energy from solar power. Page 14
Pole to pole. We’re buffeted between the Bad and the Good, with a lot of territory in between, says columnist Craig Marshall Smith. Page 10 Public’s help sought. A rash of vandalism to vehicles around Highlands Ranch may be tied to teenagers, the sheriff’s office says. Page 5
Foliage of fear. Haunted Forest is back in the Backcountry Wilderness Area, with thrills and chills set for the last Friday and Saturday before Halloween. Page 21
Unfortunate incident. Peter Friesema of Highlands Ranch was arrested at an Alaska airport after allegedly making a comment about a bomb. Page 8