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There are two legally distinct organizations that each work on TABOR issues. The TABOR Committee is the Advocacy organization and the TABOR Foundation is the Educational organization.
The TABOR Committee was the original vehicle for getting TABOR passed in 1992. Many people worked on the versions from 1986 through 1992. Many of the leaders or their survivors have given us permission to recognize their work and tribulations in the early years. Among those we recognize are:
The TABOR Honorary Committee includes:
- John and Diane Cox, who started the ball rolling,
- Douglas Bruce
- Clyde Harkins
- Katherine Anderson
- Penn R. Pfiffner
- Tim Cranston
- Fred Holden
- Vern Bickel, In memoriam
- Steve Shoe, In memoriam
Our email address is: TheTaborFoundation@gmail.com, and /or info@TheTaborCommittee.com.
To be notified of TABOR news, join our email list. Send an email with “subscribe” in the subject line to either one of the email addresses listed above or Click (Here).
The TABOR Committee telephone number is 303-747-7460.
The current TABOR Board of Directors are:
- Penn Pfiffner, Chairman
Penn Pfiffner is a former state representative, having served in the Colorado legislature from 1993 through 2000.
He was an early leader and proponent of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR), serving as Regional Coordinator in the 1986 effort, and serving on the TABOR Committee in subsequent years.
His business is financial and managerial consulting to architects, engineers and contractors. He also conducts economic analyses such as forecasting and valuing closely-held stock. He opened his practice, Construction Economics, LLC in 1983.
He taught college Economics at night school, at both the graduate and undergraduate level, for thirteen years. Penn earned his Masters in Finance from the University of Colorado at Denver and his undergraduate degrees in Economics and Political Science from CU-Boulder.
He is the former President of the Denver Association of Business Economists. In the 1980’s, he was a member of the national ASTM’s (Association of Standards, Testing and Materials) Building Economics Subcommittee, which established standards for life-cycle costing and the use of net present value analysis. He was one of 300 economists polled nationally by the National Association of Business Economists for quarterly forecasts of the economy.
Penn wrote and researched for the Independence Institute as a Senior Fellow for 12 years, during which he also served as the Director of the Fiscal Policy Center. He served on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Union of Taxpayers for more than a dozen years, including six years as its President.
He is a veteran, having served as an officer in the Navy, assigned to U.S.S. Oklahoma City (CG5), based out of Yokosuka, Japan from 1977 to the end of 1979.
- Bob Foland, Executive Director
Bob Foland CFP® has been helping individuals, couples and small businesses with their financial planning needs since 1988. Since 1997 he has been an independent advisor, meaning that he is not limited to nor encouraged to use the investment vehicles of any particular company. That independence allows for true objectivity in the investment and planning advice offered by Mr. Foland through his company, The IRA Specialists.
Bob lives in Highlands Ranch, Colorado with his wife and daughter. When he is not helping his clients he enjoys fly-fishing, hunting and skiing.
- Dennis Polhill, Board member (TABOR Committee only)
Dennis received degrees in engineering and math from the University of Illinois in 1970 and graduate degrees in engineering and public administration from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978.
He worked a decade as a City Engineer and Director of Public Works in Urbana, Illinois, Cumberland, Maryland and Lakewood, Colorado, after which he worked as a consultant in engineering and management to governments all across North America for the decade of the 1980s.
The firm he established developed a new field of engineering called Pavement Management utilizing sophisticated techniques to optimize performance of capital outlays by governments.
Dennis became a Registered Professional Engineer in 12 states and a Registered Land Surveyor in 2 states.
In the 1990s Dennis became involved in numerous real estate, capital finance and entrepreneurial ventures in Colorado, California and Illinois.
Also in the 1990s Dennis became one of the leaders of the term limits movement and became a Senior Fellow at the Independence Institute.
- Dana West, Technology & Communications
After graduating from Michigan State University, Dana moved to Colorado. He was one of Radio Shack’s top-ranked Senior Managers for many years before leaving to work at Qwest Communications. He is currently a data analyst at CCIG and loves technology, college football, and PIE! Go Green!
- Rebecca Sopkin, Corporate Treasurer
Rebecca Sopkin is an attorney who specializes in Colorado constitutional law, particularly the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. She graduated from University of Colorado Law School in 1991 in the top 15% of her class, and was a member of Colorado Law Review. Her private practice includes civil litigation and appellate law before state and federal courts, as well as small business and transactional matters. She is a member of the Federalist Society, and lives in Lakewood with her husband and multiple children, dogs and lizards.
- Natalie Menten, Board member
Natalie Menten is a long time political activist from Lakewood
- Pat Francomano, Board member
Pat Francomano is a retired software engineer who holds a Master’s in mathematics from California State University, Fullerton. He was a volunteer signature gatherer to place the TABOR Amendment on the ballot.
He has been a Colorado Springs resident since the early 1970’s. He is on the board of the Colorado Union of Taxpayers (CUT) and participated in CUT’s rating of the Colorado Legislature for more than forty years. He has been politically active serving as precinct leader, party committeeman, and state delegate. He began an effort calling for the privatization of Social Security by making his concerns known to his congressman in a letter in the form of a petition, upon which he gathered hundreds of signatures.
Francomano is a freelance writer whose writing focuses on political, economic, and social issues as they affect individual liberties. He has written articles and op-ed pieces for several papers, including The Colorado Springs Gazette, The Constitutionalist Today (Contributing Writer) and Common Sense News. He believes that it is the duty of citizens to hold their government officials—politicians and bureaucrats—accountable for their actions and for their stewardship of individual personal liberties.
Good morning……..
My name is Peter Coulter and I am a strong supporter of Tabor. During the last Ballot Initiative of 2014; I proposed a definition of “fee” that was previously prescribed by the SCOTUS. The purpose was to counteract the bizarre definition that the Colorado Supreme Court enacted in Barber v. Ritter 196 P. 3d 238 – 2008. We were hamstrung by two items: 1. We got a very late start and 2. Our initiative was on the desk of the Colorado Supreme Court for over 6 weeks because of a bogus argument by Justice Rice and Hobbs. By the time they finished holding it up, it was way too late to get the signatures.
I want to try it again in 2016; and have already made some moves to make it easier to get it on the ballot.
My question for you is I would like to request we join forces to get this initiative passed which would implement the true meaning that Mr. Bruce for TABOR when it was first initiated.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
/s/ Peter Coulter
Mr.PeterCoulter@gmail.com
http://www.cu.edu/cu-advocates/events/cu-scoop-tabor
University of Colorado: TABOR Lawsuit and Discussion: Potential impacts to higher education and the state budget
When:
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 – 5:30pm to 7:00pm
Where:
CU-Boulder, Wolf Law Building, Room 307
Description:
TABOR Lawsuit and Discussion: Potential impacts to higher education and the state budget
Guest speaker will be David Skaggs who served 12 years in Congress (1987-1999) as U.S. Representative from the 2nd Congressional District and three terms in the Colorado House (1981-1987). David is a legal senior advisory with Dentons U.S. He leads the legal team challenging the constitutionality of the Colorado Taxpayer Bill of Rights. David is also an adjunct professor at the CU School of Law. He is co-chairman of the Board of the U.S. House of Representatives Office of Congressional Ethics. Read up on the state’s budget challenges. Please register here http://secure.www.alumniconnections.com/olc/pub/UCO/event/showEventForm.jsp?form_id=189831
Hi all-
I’m investigating the feasibility for the City of Aurora to exit SCFD with a ballot initiative in 2021. Its clearly not been good for Aurora over the last 30 years.
Thoughts?
Pingback: Is 30 Words Enough to Understand a City Ballot Question? Why You’ll Get to Decide for Yourself Next Time You Vote – The Catalyst
Dan Gray, I moved to the Crestone Colorado area around 1996, moved into the Baca Grande 2017. This letter is concerning our Baca Grande Water & Sanitation District giving next to free wastewater processing since 2002. It is my contention that Crestone, our District, our POA and the Crestone Eagle are all involved in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the Baca Grande property tax payers of Millions of Dollars of free wastewater treatment for Crestone…
Behind our 800 plus District property tax paying backs, our Baca Grande Water & Sanitation District has been subsidizing Crestone’s wastewater processing since 2002-05, for around $4 Million Dollars of free wastewater processing over the last 20 years. And another $3,600,000 of property tax wastewater bond’s Principal & Interest over the last 20 years..
There was never any Tabor vote on whether or not we the people of the Baca wanted to increase our District property taxes to subsidize Crestone’s wastewater processing or not with our property tax money.
Behind our backs again our District has been negotiating a new 20 year IGA to process Crestone’s wastewater for another 20 years for only $70,000 a year.
Our District’s yearly budget is around $3,500,000 a yr, one ? from fees for service ,? from property tax. Our wastewater plant budget is around $750,000 a year. Crestone is 20%-30% of our wastewater load, and 30%40% of our Organic load, the most expensive to process. Crestone has only been paying our District between $2,400- $50,000 a year for the last 20 years.
Crestone’s 25% of District wastewater plant’s $750,000 budget is $187,500 that Crestone should be paying our District every year, plus 25% of our District wastewater property tax bond financing account around $1,000,000 a year. Two years ago our principle & interest was over $740,000 for 4 property tax bond issues. 25% of $740,000 is $185,000 for debt service a year Crestone owes our District for any wastewater plant property tax money used..
While Crestone is charging their own Crestone wastewater collection customers $60,000 a year to collect their wastewater, and then sends it to our District to process. When the deal was cut in 2002-05 Kizzen Laki was the Editor of the Crestone Eagle and the Mayor of Crestone at the same time, negotiating the deal with our District in secret. No public meetings, no Eagle reports, no notice of any kind to the Citizens of the Baca Grande that there was going to be a huge increase in their District property tax to subsidize Crestone’s wastewater processing costs.
I was on the Crestone Board of Trustees during the 1998-02 period. 1998 on our District public web site pg 23 “Rules & Regulations” Colorado Statute states in order for our District to provide our services outside our District that area would have to be annexed into our District, and pay property taxes like we have to our District. And that never happened. Today our District attorney Marcus J, Lock LAW OF THE ROCKIES LLC. Claims the law has been changed, and our District can provide service outside our District.
I read both of Colorado’s DOLA booklets on Special Districts. And they clearly state if a District provides service outside their District they have to include all costs and re-coop the lost property tax money as well when setting their service rate fees.I am asking our District Attorney for the 12th Judicial District to please investigate this sordid affair. I have been going to our District Meetings on this issue for the last 3 years, and the Town of Crestone for the last two years. I have written countless articles, emails, and postings on Facebook, everything is ignored. The Crestone Eagle ignores my Letters to the Editor. Kizzen Laki is still a Crestone Board of Trustee, and sold her paper to a non-profit that she is now on
the Board of Directors of today.
The last three years our District & Crestone have been negotiating behind our backs again for another 20 yr. IGA, Intergovernmental Agreement. Between $50,000-$70,000 a yr. Crestone will be bringing on line a new 24 unit old folks home “Living Wisdom ”with all the emities, commercial kitchens, commercial laundries, and extending their wastewater collection lines to other locations as well.This will mean an additional property tax increase without a Tabor election, again for the property tax payers of our District.
Our District wastewater plant is now at 40% capacity with around half of our District’s 1600 lots developed. If our District wastewater plant goes over 80% capacity we will be forced by the State to build a new $13 Million Dollar wastewater plant. Our Federal Gov could pay as much as 70% of the total cost, which is unlikely, the rest would be from new property tax for our District.
Until recently Rick Hart has been on the Eagle Board of Directors that bankrupted the Eagle and on our District Board as well. Diego Martinez.is the President of our Baca Grande POA. Who is supposed to be the Citizens of the Baca Grande’s eyes, ears and advocate to/with Crestone and our District and county. Diego Martinez is now also our District Manager, highest paid person in our community with no wastewater or water experience and or licences, like the people he beat out for the job did have.
It is my contention that Crestone, our District, our POA and the Crestone Eagle are all involved in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the Baca Grande property tax payers of Millions of Dollars of free wastewater treatment for Crestone…
Side note Cathy Fromm of Denver has been our District accountant for many years, and for our Baca POA until 2020 when $200,000 went missing from our POA Reserve Account, Our POA President quit, our POA President elect quit, two POA Board Members quit, our POA Manager quit, the new POA Manager quit, then magical Diego Martinez became our new POA President and raised our POA dues over $200 a year. Not a word in the Crestone Eagle.
Five years ago DOLA, Colorado Office of Local Affairs top audit accountant spent five long days with Cathy Fromm and our District Manager JoAnn Slivka trying to explain our District accounting system .He told me that our District accounting system was the most complicated convoluted accounting system he had ever seen in his 20 yrs plus accounting auditing career. Cathy Fromm had her new minted accounting son, ‘audit’ our District’s budget et al.