Metro Districts' role in high property taxes. Were that more media outlets were as honest as the one in Westcliffe. And, an embarrassing mistake to make (if you teach math like me).
An often overlooked driver of high property tax: Metro Districts. Will there be any meaningful reform?
In the ongoing fight against high property taxes, there's a corner of the problem that remains in the dark: Metro Districts (and, what I'm now learning about is a similar problem, Business Improvement Districts--essentially the business district version of a Metro District, see screenshot 1 attached from the first link below)
That's too bad because in the hall of fame for high property taxes, dirty-dealing, and tax abuses, Metro Districts are pictures 1, 2, and 3.
And, just like with regular property taxes, there does not seem to be much will in the state to do anything of substance about the problem. There are bills here and there that pass and nibble at the problem, but the big issues remain.
--Developers are still able to pack boards with "homeowners" (developer's friends who only have the option to buy into the district) who then vote to rack up tons of debt and taxes to finance the developer's expansion plans, without actually costing themselves anything.
--Developers can use the Metro District machinery to finance their own debt and buy their own bonds which pay off in sweetheart fashion (for them, not those who pay to service the debt of course).
--Oversight by local elected officials tends to be spotty at best.
My one hope here is that, as people become more aware (and the spike in property taxes in the near future will only add to this) that they are more careful about buying into Metro Districts and that they push to get themselves on the boards so that the developer's cronies don't find a seat.
I guess we'll see what the next Assembly session brings. If you live in a Metro District, pay careful attention to board elections and give careful thought to getting on the board.
https://www.denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/1/doti/documents/districts/district-characteristics.pdf
Ah, would that all media outlets were this honest.
Take a look at the attached screenshot. It's from the Sun article below detailing the newspaper fight in the tiny town of Westcliffe, CO.
I'll leave it to you to read up on the fuss if you want. What I want to focus on here is the part of the screenshot in red. This comes from one of the newspaper publishers involved in the fight.
Ah, would that all papers and media outlets were this honest. Sadly they're not, and I am convinced that this is a large chunk of why people don't like the media.
It's not the bias per se, it's the hypocrisy associated with the fact that many media outlets have bias and continually tell us they don't.
It's the sanctimony associated with placing themselves as defenders of democracy while at the same time completely ignoring stories that impact on that democracy.
It's the (admittedly necessary) drive to remain commercially viable by offering content their audience wants but, again, hypocritically not acknowledging this need and how it drives coverage.
People excel at detecting BS. From dealing with children and from things I've read, I'm almost certain it's inborn because we do good at it even from a young age.
And people don't like the smell.
Every media outlet has bias. I do. It manifests in what I show you and what I ignore.
The thing is, you know what you're getting here. I've made no secret of it. Apparently neither does one of the papers down in Westcliffe and good on 'em. Whether you agree with their politics or no, I hope you can appreciate their honesty.
For you as a media consumer, your job is to recognize that, no matter what the media outlet says, they have a bias. Do not assume that you can read or watch only one thing and get a full picture of your world. Spread out your consumption.
https://coloradosun.com/2023/10/03/westcliffe-colorado-newspaper-war/
Oops.
I told you in the past about my squash plants shading out my mum (and my lack of vigilance for letting it happen) and other flowers.
I was worried about it living let alone blooming, but in the last few days it did actually put out some flowers. See the attached picture.
I was glad to see it: I look forward to mums popping every year as the gardening winds down.
I have another mistake to share, but only if you promise not to tell anyone because this one is embarrassing if you're someone teaching math/physics.
I made a cold frame a few years back and have wrestled with keeping it since year 1. I originally made it to overwinter my herbs so I could have fresh herbs year 'round. I designed it to be tall enough for all my herb plants which, at the time, sat in small grow bags.
That was a maintenance hassle: I ended up having to add supplemental heat and grow lights, I had to water the plants often because of that, they didn't look healthy or happy, and I never ended up using that many of the herbs at all!
So year two (after deciding that I would just freeze some herbs at the end of each season), I thought I would try putting the cold frame directly on the soil in the garden bed, burying some jugs of water (as thermal ballast), and grow cold weather crops. I planted things like kale, lettuce, etc.
Well, the cold frame, designed for tall plants in grow bags, had so much shade that nothing grew that well. There just wasn't enough light.
Alright, so this winter is the final iteration. If it's not useful, it gets given away to someone else (perhaps smarter) who could maybe make better use of it.
I shortened the cold frame to get more light to the seedlings. I plan to try again on cold weather crops and will not try to grow anything past December.
Then come early early Spring, when my seedling cabinet is filling and I'm running out of room, I'll use the cold frame as seedling storage and a way to get some things hardened off. I'm curious to see how the new design works.
The thing is, and this is where I get to the embarrassing part, when you shorten the frame, you change the angle of the lid. And when you change the angle of the lid, you change the length of the lid. Simple trigonometry/geometry.
Unless you're me and you fixed the walls and frame in early summer and didn't anticipate the lid needing to be fixed too.
When I went to set up the cold frame this weekend, the lid came out a little ... short. See the other picture attached.
Crap.
It's an easy fix (I kept the bigger cutoff pieces from redoing the sides but needed an extra pressure treated 2x4), but I need more work/expense like I need a hole in my head.
Ah well. Perfection eludes me again.