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ELBERT 1/10/13
Elbert County
January 10, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourelbertcountynews.com
Elbert County, Colorado • Volume 117, Issue 50
Outgoing officials blast budget claim Newly elected commissioner said county nearly broke By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews. com In an undated letter to Elbert County employees, outgoing commissioners Del Schwab and John Shipper took a swipe at incoming commissioner’s Robert Rowland’s math skills, insisting he got it wrong when he said county was almost broke. Centered around a Dec. 13 Denver Post article in which Rowland said the county “would start the new year with just $6,095 in the budget — about 3½ minutes worth of expenditure,” Shipper and Schwab say they have no idea how the Elbert County Tea Party founder came up with that num-
ber, and that the county has plenty of money. “The premise of this article is based on erroneous statements made by commissioner-elect Rowand who falsesly claims ‘the checkbook is empty,’” stated Shipper and Scwhab. “This statement is untrue by hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Rowland, who defeated Schwab in last year’s Republican primary, says that at the time of the interview, the number he quoted was based on the county’s current preliminary budget and was never meant to be an absolute number. “Sure we’ve got money in the bank for roads and bridges and such, but we can’t use that money to pay other obligations,” he explained. “That money has to stay separate from general funds by statute; we can’t mix or commingle funds, nor use money from the coming year to pay expenses from
a previous year.” Since the article appeared, the county has finalized its budget and Rowland said there is some additional money, but it comes from a variety of sources, including the return of some general funds that were paid out in error. “Right now, it’s still a moving target,” Rowland said of the situation. “But the last thing we want is our county employees to worry.” Rowland said the coming year will be tight, but based on new revenue projections, the county should be able to meet its $271,000 monthly payroll, as well as some of its anticipated expenditures until tax revenue begins to arrive in March, but in no way is the county “flush” with cash. Schwab and Shipper state in their letter the the county’s “cash in hand” report shows a cash balance of more than $626,000 in the general fund. The letter does not indicate the
An undated letter from outgoing Elbert County Commissioners John Shipper, left, and Del Schwab, center, says the county is not broke and has a balanced budget. Commissioner Kurt Schlegel is at right. Photo by Deborah Grigsby date the report was made. Both Shipper and Schwab could not be reached for comment. “OK, so I may have been off,”
said Rowland. “So instead of starting the year with $6,000 in the general fund, we’ll have $24,000, so what is that — 18 minutes of expenditures?”
Heating-bill help offered Douglas/Elbert Task Force can also lend hand By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com
dominated stock shows in the 1950s and ’60s, the Pennington boys strut some formidable genetic material not only in their animals, but in themselves, as well. But according to Cole, there’s more to it than just good DNA. “There’s a lot of work, too,” said Cole. “We have to clean them, wash them, groom them, and even get them used to all the noise at the show.” Their father, Cevey Pennington, also credits the family’s longstanding relationship with 4-H, and said he feels the program will help make the boys better men. “This all takes a lot of work, and these boys do most of it on their own,” said the elder Pennington. “We’ve got three generations of 4-H here on the ranch, and it’s taught them not only responsibility, but to be generous with their time and with community service — not so much it’s a detriment, but really, to the point they enjoy taking time to help others.” The boys’ mother, Ashley Pennington, is also an active participant in 4-H.
In an effort to assist struggling Colorado families with heating costs during the dead of winter, the state’s federally funded LowIncome Energy Assistance Program has already aided 52,642 qualified families since Nov. 1. LEAP, which helped pay heating bills for more than 101,000 Colorado families a year ago, has thus far given assistance to 380 households in Douglas CounTASK FORCE SEEKS ty, 146 in Elbert DONATIONS County and 5,518 in Arapahoe County With a fully functioning this winter. on-site thrift store, “We know that Treasures on Park Street, there are a lot more next to the food pantry eligible people in at 1638 Park St. in Castle the state,” said AgRock, the Douglas/Elbert gie Berens, LEAP Task Force is constantly manager for Coloseeking donations, either rado Department hand-me-down items or of Human Services. food items. “Sometimes, for “We tend to get sort varying reasons, of fat and happy around people don’t apthe holidays, and from ply, though. Often, Nov. 1-Christmas Eve we people feel like they are just bombarded with can make it on their donations,” said Suzanne own. But we want Greene, executive director them to know, it’s of the task force. “After the here as a resource to first of the year we hardly use if you meet the see anybody until March. eligibility require… A lot of people really ments.” rely on food banks. We like For an individual to tell people that if you to qualify, they must use the food bank, you have a pre-taxable can use the money you are income of no greatsaving on other bills.” er than $1,397 a month. The income amount goes up $495 per individual in the household, so for an average-sized family of four, the requirements are a maximum of $2,882 in pre-taxable income per month, which equates to 150 percent of the poverty line. For many, the perception in Douglas
Beef continues on Page 8
Heat continues on Page 8
Jane Abbott poses with her grandsons Cole Pennington, center, and Cauy Pennington, right. The youngsters are third-generation ranchers carrying on the family tradition of raising prize-winning beef cattle. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
Stock show a family tradition Third-generation ranching brothers set sights high By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com Third-generation cattlemen Cole and Cauy Pennington are up at 5:30 a.m. working beside their father on the family’s 1,300-
acre Kiowa ranch, long before they ever pack their book bags for school. At the tender ages of 14 and 11, respectively, the two brothers are already seasoned showmen when it comes to championship beef. And this year, Cole, with a yearling heifer and prospect steer, and Cauy with a bred heifer, have their sights set high for the 107th National Western Stock Show, which starts Jan. 12 in Denver. The grandsons of Gilbert and Jane Abbott, whose Abbott Ranch shorthorn cattle
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