I have been a Littleton citizen for 35 years and am opposed to this November's Littleton Ballot Issue 2A. I would like to offer the following thoughts on Littleton Councilperson Rebecca Kast's 10/08/2006 electronic posting on YourHub.com and her related article which appeared in print on October 12, 2006. Ms. Kast's electronic posting lists the 10 reasons to vote for 2A and primarily concern the loss of revenue or services to Littleton if 2A is defeated.

In my opinion, Ms. Kast's arguments are based on a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the central issue involved in 2A. The main issue in 2A is whether or not Littleton citizens want to retain the right to vote on the expenditure of revenues collected by the city that are above the cap imposed by the current TABOR law. These limits are changed each year depending on the change in Denver Metro area inflation and the change in the local property valuations.

Ms. Kast uses a classic political approach by imagining negative consequences to the health and welfare of the City if 2A is not approved. However, the city could lose the use of excess funds collected only if: a) the city couldn't make a persuasive case to the voters for retaining the excess funds, and b) the voters turned down the expenditure of these funds. Only then would the city be denied the use of the excess revenues and be required to refund the excess to the citizens. If critical services or programs were in jeopardy by circumstance or poor planning, all the council has to do is ask the voters to use the money. Since 1992, Littleton voters have approved the use of TABOR excess funds four-out-of-four times, demonstrating that the current system works. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Why do a majority of the City Council members (5/7) favor the removal of our right to vote on excess revenues? They seem to want a blank check to use all revenues collected in the future and don't want the inconvenience of going to the voters (as TABOR requires) to ask permission to use excess TABOR funds. I believe this vote provides the citizens of Littleton with a mechanism to curb the natural appetite of any government to grow as much as possible, and is worth the small inconvenience it may cause our City staff and Council.

Remember, voting No on 2Awill retain our right to vote on how TABOR excess revenues will be spent, a right we have had since 1992, and a Yes vote will forever eliminate that right.

Matt Grogan

Click here to go to YourHub.com's Arapahoe County Election Central