July 15, 2021
FREE
DOUGLAS COUNTY, COLORADO
A publication of
LoneTreeVoice.net
INSIDE: VOICES: PAGE 12 | LIFE: PAGE 14 | CALENDAR: PAGE 17 | SPORTS: PAGE 24
VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 21
A push to protect Lone Tree’s financial future City’s 1.5% sales tax rate has not increased since 1995 BY MADDIE BROWNING MBROWNING@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Wildflowers grow in an open space area in Parker. Douglas County is lush with plant growth after one of the wettest springs on record. PHOTO BY ELLIOTT WENZLER
County sees wet spring, but autumn fires still possible Spring this year was in top 10% for precipitation BY ELLIOTT WENZLER EWENZLER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
While Douglas County and the rest of the Front Range has fared better than expected during the first few months of wildfire season,
experts are still asking residents to be ready for those circumstances to change. “The threat has diminished slightly,” said Tim Johnson, director of Douglas County’s emergency management office. “However, we know we’re right around the corner from another potential wildfire season.” In March, the county’s emergency management office said
it was preparing for a likely dry and hot summer. The county had been experiencing months of the worst possible drought conditions and forecasts weren’t predicting improvement. However, the county — along with the rest of the Front Range — has since seen above-average precipitation. In Douglas County, SEE WILDFIRES, P22
Lone Tree’s Victim Services Unit looks to expand BY MADDIE BROWNING MBROWNING@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Victim Services Unit in Lone Tree is composed of five volunteer advocates who provide on-call support to victims of crime or trauma outside of regular business hours.
The unit is actively recruiting and hopes to add 3-5 new advocates, according to Jennifer Roger-Flynn, victim services coordinator. The advocates volunteer 3 to 4 times a month on weekdays from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. and weekends from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 5 p.m. and 6 a.m.
FREE RANGE THERAPY
How a horse and a trail can be good for the soul P14
They respond to cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, identity theft and fraud and trauma in any form. “We provide basic crisis intervention and emotional response SEE SERVICES, P21
Lone Tree City Council has created an initiative called “Mapping Our Future” in 2019 to gauge the public’s opinion about how the city should move forward financially. With increasing online shopping and Lone Tree’s smaller population, Mayor Jackie Millet explained that the city needs a solution to continue to support the community at the same level and proposes consideration of a 1% sales tax increase. Millet said that the city experienced a 5% increase in sales tax revenue from 1996 to 2015. She said that there was even a small increase during the Great Recession (2007-09). “In 2015, however, we noticed things were starting to change and our sales tax revenues were starting to flatten, even though we were adding new stores and new restaurants to the community, so we started taking a look at that and trying to figure out what was going on there,” Millet said. Lone Tree’s 1.5% sales tax rate has not increased since 1995 when the city was founded. And since the city does not collect property taxes or taxes on groceries, it relies on retail sales tax to fund operations and city services. The pandemic caused further SEE TAXES, P30
OLYMPICS BOUND
Jessica Thoennes is among local athletes heading to Tokyo P24