Dear Neighbor,

We hope you and your family enjoying the cooler fall weather! There will be two questions on the ballot this November for the city of Wheat Ridge. The questions will be labeled 2A and 2B on your ballot.

In accordance with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), ballot question 2A asks Wheat Ridge voters to allow the City to retain $54,409 of excess TABOR funds for Parks and Recreation. If the voters do not allow the City to retain the funds, the City would be required to refund about $1.70 ($54,409 divided by a population of 32,000) to each person who lives in Wheat Ridge. Common sense dictates that these dollars would better serve the public through Parks and Recreation programs.

Ballot question 2B asks voters in Wheat Ridge to de-TABOR for the future. We believe that when citizens voted for TABOR in 1992, they wanted to control the size of state government and vote on all new taxes at the state level. The City Charter for the City of Wheat Ridge already requires a vote of the people to increase taxes. City government is closest to the people and you can more readily observe where your tax dollars are being spent. The City Charter, like TABOR, specifically states that citizens have the right to approve or deny any future tax increases. Ballot questions 2A and 2B do not jeopardize this right.

The City's allowable revenue growth dictated by TABOR decreased significantly from 2001 to 2004 ($1.1 million to $119,836) even though the cost of City services such as public safety, street and parks maintenance and recreation have increased every year. The "ratcheting down" effect of the TABOR growth limit continually limits City services, making cuts of services desired by citizens virtually permanent. TABOR contains a series of complex and often redundant provisions that greatly restrict budget-making flexibility for cities. TABOR also contains provisions that make it very difficult for the City to take advantage of surpluses in good times (e.g. creating a Rainy Day Fund) to save for bad times.

If TABOR applied to your personal budget, you would not be able to invest or save in good times in order to avoid hardship in bad times. If TABOR applied to your personal budget and you were having trouble making ends meet, you would not be allowed to increase your income by taking a second job or working overtime. If TABOR applied to your personal budget, you would have to refuse merit raises above inflation and you might even have to give back bonuses you received.

What these ballot measures DO:

Ø Exempts the city only from the revenue limit imposed by TABOR

Ø Keeps all other provisions of TABOR intact

Ø Helps maintain the city's ability to provide essential services to Wheat Ridge residents

Ø Allows the city to retain and spend $54,409 for the purposes of Parks and Recreation

What these ballot measures DO NOT DO:

Ø Raise or create new taxes

Ø Fund new programs or services

Ø Eliminate voter authority to raise taxes

The City Charter and TABOR specifically state that citizens have the right to approve or deny any future tax increases. These ballot questions do not jeopardize this right. We respectfully encourage all Wheat Ridge citizens, liberal and conservative, to vote YES on 2A and 2B. Let's keep Wheat Ridge moving in the right direction. Let's support local control over our tax dollars and a common sense approach to budgeting.

Jerry DiTullio, Mayor

Mike Stites, Council President

www.ci.wheatridge.co.us