South Suburban hosting board elections

Property taxes tied to district

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Six candidates are competing for two seats on the South Suburban Parks and Recreation District board of directors.

e May 2 election will be the district’s rst regular election in an odd-numbered year, after 2019 state legislation changed timelines to stagger county and special district elections.

e district’s board election is accustomed to seeing very low voter turnout, with just over 1% of eligible voters casting ballots in 2022.

“With any election, your vote matters,” said Jennifer King, the designated election o cial at South Suburban. “We encourage people to participate in these elections because these are the decisionmakers of what’s going on in the district.”

District background e board of directors, made of ve elected residents, adopts policies and governs the district, according to the district’s website. e executive director implements board policies and oversees operations. Candidates are running for the elected seats of Jim Taylor and Ken Lucas, whose terms are ending in May. Hopefuls include Michael Edwards, John Priddy, Pam Eller, Elizabeth Watson, Alexis Barrere and Ken Lucas, who is running for re-election. e South Suburban board meets the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 6 p.m. in the South Suburban Sports Complex at 4810 E. County Line Rd.

South Suburban, which formed in 1959, is a regional provider of parks and recreation services. e special district manages recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, golf courses, playgrounds, parks and trails in its 46-square mile area, which includes portions of Arapahoe, Douglas and Je erson Counties.

According to 2022 nancial documents, in-district taxpayers pay about $8.40 in tax to the district per $1,000 of assessed property value.

Am

I eligible to vote?

To be eligible to vote in a South Suburban election, a person must be a registered voter in Colorado. In addition, they must reside within the district boundaries or own taxable property within the boundaries. A person who is married or in a civil union with a property-owner in the district is also eligible.

e district’s boundaries expand southeast towards Lone Tree and northwest to Sheridan, crossing the lines of many municipalities and three counties.

To see who is eligible to vote, residents can check the county assessor’s website to see if they own taxable property within the district. Residents can also check their district resident information through the Secretary of State’s database at www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/ or by contacting their county clerk and recorder.

Apply for an absentee ballot

For this election, voters may vote absentee or in-person at a polling station on election day. Absentee voters must request a ballot by April 25.

“We do not mail ballots to everybody in the district, compared to the county election where they do, where they just automatically get a ballot,” King said. “If they want a ballot mailed to them, they have to apply for that.”

Absentee ballot applications must be physically signed by the applicant — no electronic signatures will be accepted. Applicants can email a scanned version or photograph of the document to Elections@ssprd. org or mail the application toSouth Suburban at 4810 E. County Line Road in Littleton.

King said the district doesn’t automatically mail ballots to all voters because of costs.

“Cost is a big factor on doing an all-mail ballot (election),” King said. “We would be mailing ballots to every resident and non-resident of the district — we have a lot of people