Courier-View Pikes Peak
October 17, 2012
75 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
Teller County, Colorado • Volume 51, Issue 42
ourtellercountynews.com
Steve McKay, courthouse custodian in the facilities department, receives his five-year employee service award from department director William Daniel. Photo by Pat Hill
The bonfire at Gateway Elementary School after the WPHS 2012 Homecoming Parade kept hundreds of students, school staff members, local families and wellwishers warm with fuel provided by Casey’s Lumber. When it was first lit at about 7:30 p.m. the flames could be seen towering over the city from six or seven blocks away. Photos by Norma Engelberg SEE MORE PHOTOS, PAGE 10
Spirits high at WPHS Homecoming Parade By Norma Engelberg
nengelberg@ourcoloradonews.com The excitement was palpable on Oct. 10 as Woodland Park High School students lined up for the start of the 2012 Homecoming Parade that would soon take them walking down U.S. 24 through downtown Woodland Park. The parade was led by members of the Woodland Park Police Department, Northeast Teller County Fire Protection District and the Woodland Park Boy Scout Troop
230 color guard. Following them were the cheerleading squad, the marching band and high school royalty. After that floats and vehicles lined up on a first-come basis. The highway was lined with spectators and the town, local businesses and even the people were painted in green and white. The parade started in front of Taco Bell and ended at Fairview Avenue. After the parade, nearly everybody in attendance walked to Gateway Elementary School for the homecoming bonfire. The WPHS football team took on Mitchell High School on Oct. 12.
NETCO goes for mill-levy increase By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews.com If voters approve a mill-levy increase up to 3.94 mills for Northeast Teller County Fire Protection District, the additional revenue will fill in funding gaps partially due to a decrease in property-tax revenue. If the measure passes, the district’s annual budget would increase by $614,645.99; for homes valued at $200,000 the homeowner’s property tax would go up by $5.26 a month. For the fire district, the increase would be used for general operating expenses to: POSTAL ADDRESS
maintain current levels of firefighting and medical aid response maintain and replace aging firefighting equipment and engines, some of which are more than 30 years old. maintain historic levels of funding for operations and administration. “We really need to have more personnel,” said the district’s fire chief, Tyler Lambert. “The number of our volunteer firefighters is down to a historical low of four. ISO, Insurance Service Office, gives us credit for every three volunteers, which equal one career firefighter on the job.”
To fill in the funding gap for staffing, NETCO initiated a program two years ago to hire part-time firefighters, from Cripple Creek, Fort Carson, Colorado Springs and Denver. “By having a part-time firefighter program, we have four firefighters on duty each day to serve our constituents.” In the past four years, the district has lost nearly $132,000, a 7.6 percent decrease in revenue. If the measure passes, the increase is expected to add $614,646 to the annual revenue. Fiscal-year spending for the district is estimated at $1,607,537 Ninety percent of the district’s funding comes from property taxes, 3 percent from revenue earned through fighting wildland fires on a national level and 7 percent comes from specific ownership tax, including license plates and registration fees. “We get zero income from city sales tax,” Lambert said. The NETCO tax measure is the only local issue on the ballot and no comments were filed by the constitutional deadline.
Fires and flat economy affect county budget By Pat Hill
phill@ourcoloradonews. com Balanced on shared sacrifice and increased work load for the employees, the proposed budget for 2013 is just under $26 million. With a $2.7 million shortfall in August, the proposed budget is the result of a financial ax in several areas. “We are leaving nine full-time positions vacant,” said Vicki Caldwell, budget officer, who presented the document to Teller County commissioners Oct. 11. Commission chair Jim Ignatius added, “Nine doesn’t tell the full story; it’s about 35 fewer positions, 11 percent, from where we were in 2007. We’ve got 80 percent of the employees doing 105 percent of the work.” In addition to the employment vacancies and no new hiring, the balanced budget includes taking money from longterm capital plans. “We are not doing any general layoffs or furloughs, or anything like that,” Caldwell said. In a nod to the employees, county administrator Sheryl Decker offered reassurance, in
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spite of the decrease in revenue and a reduced staff. “In those departments, the work still gets done and done right,” she said. The proposed budget is preparation for an even worse prediction for the next two years. “We’re projecting some pretty significant property-tax reductions payable in 2014 and 2016,” Ignatius said. “So this budget plans for that, puts money aside; we are being proactive in having a little bit of a cushion in there.” The budget message, written by the county’s finance director, Laurie Litwin, tells the story of the past year. “While revenues provided by retail and constructionrelated activity are sporadically improving, federal, state, private and gaming funds are stagnant or declining,” Litwin writes. “The effects of the local fires during our tourist and building seasons make revenue trending for this year very difficult, resulting in estimates of a more conservative nature.” The first public hearing on the proposed budget is at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Centennial Building in Cripple Creek.