Cut stormwater or I'll cut taxes, Bruce threatens city

Anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce is threatening to start a petition drive for a property tax cut in Colorado Springs if the City Council doesn’t immediately end the Stormwater Enterprise, an effort that could possibly cost the city millions of dollars in lost revenue.

“The voters are going to get their money back one way or another,” Bruce said Friday.

Bruce maintains that ballot Issue 300, which he authored and voters approved Nov. 3, requires the city to abolish the controversial enterprise right away.

Although most council members initially argued that 300 didn’t affect the enterprise, they later came to the conclusion it was the will of the voters to get rid of it.

When, however, remains a major sticking point.

Several council members contend the enterprise should be dismantled in phases, primarily because there are drainage projects that haven’t been finished.

“It would be extremely irresponsible if we just canceled all ongoing storm-water work when Issue 300 provides for the phasing out of the work,” Councilman Bernie Herpin wrote recently on gazette.com.

Part of the ballot language stated: “Hereafter, all loans, gifts, and subsidies between an enterprise and the city or another enterprise are prohibited.”

Bruce said “hereafter” means from now on.

“You can go to 500 dictionaries, and they’ll all tell you the same thing,” he said.

The council on Monday will consider four options for dealing with the enterprise: ending it this year or doing away with it in phases over two, four or eight years.

The city’s Stormwater Advisory Committee on Friday voted 6-3 in favor of recommending a two-year phaseout, allowing the city to finish all capital improvement projects under construction as well as the Templeton Gap Floodway project.

Brett Wyss, one of the three committee members who voted against recommending a two-year phaseout to the council, advocated ending the enterprise immediately.

“It’s what the citizens wanted,” he said. “I think there is definitely a need for projects concerned with drainage … but there’s a process and there’s a way that we should go through in requesting money from the citizens. I think they spoke very clearly that they did not appreciate the way that the fee was put in place.”

Bruce agreed, saying the council will face “adverse consequences” if it doesn’t eliminate the Stormwater Enterprise immediately.

“My response will be to start a new petition drive to cap the property tax rate at one mill, so that the savings in property tax is equivalent to the amount of the storm-water tax that they refuse to eliminate immediately,” said Bruce.

Bruce is adamant, but city officials have extended an olive branch to their political adversary to discuss the ramifications of Issue 300. Bruce is tentatively scheduled to meet with Mayor Lionel Rivera and Councilman Randy Purvis at 4 p.m. Dec. 1, Bruce said.

Although the fate of the enterprise is unclear, the city is planning to make good on a promise to go after delinquent property owners who haven’t paid their storm-water fees by turning them over to the El Paso County Treasurer’s Office for collection.

“Staff is recommending that we certify all past due accounts for 2007, 2008 and 2009 to the El Paso County treasurer and that for any phaseout recommendation that the City Council were to adopt, that they would continue to certify past due accounts,” Assistant City Manager Nancy Johnson said during Friday’s committee meeting.