Herald Highlands Ranch 4/11/13
Highlands Ranch
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 26, Issue 21
April 11, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourhighlandsranchnews.com
Measure rankles school board Finance bill could hit county taxpayers hard By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com The Douglas County School Board long has urged a revision of the state’s school funding formula. That wish is now coming to fruition, but not in the way members had hoped. Board member Kevin Larsen said the current proposal in the Colorado General Assembly only would increase the disparity among districts, and make matters much worse for DCSD students and taxpayers. “The cure is worse than the sickness,” Larsen said. “When we further compare that to the taxes that are going to be paid, I think people are going to be astounded. The net for us would always be to put more into the state than we’re getting back.” The Democratic-controlled Colorado Senate apLarsen proved the bill April 2 on a party-line vote. If Senate Bill 213 passes the General Assembly, the state’s voters would then be asked to approve an income-tax increase of about $1 billion to fund the plan. Therein lies the rub. While DCSD would get more funding under the changes to the base calculations, Douglas County’s high per-capita income means taxpayers here Board continues on Page 8
Options changing for homebuyers Castle Rock Fire Rescue engineer and driver Chris Hinkle, left, listens to Colorado Springs firefighter Jason White during an April 3 incident training at the Douglas County Events Center. The gathering brought together a dozen agencies to go through a live simulation of what would happen if a wildland fire broke out in the backcountry of Highlands Ranch. Photo by Ryan Boldrey
Wildfire simulation prepares for worst Multiple agencies come together for incident training By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com A fire covers more than 100 acres in the Highlands Ranch Backcountry Wilderness Area in an hour’s time. Littleton and South Metro Fire are on the scene and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office already has people manning a command post. More agencies are waiting in the wings, and just like in real time, they arrive one by one, as Jeff Case, public works director for the Highlands Ranch Metro District, stands by with maps depicting where wells are and access points to fight the fire. “We know how to get around back there,” Case says, “and we can answer questions as to whether water can be available at particular locations. In the event of a major fire we can help provide organized perimeter
control and help support the first responders so they can deal with more important issues.” Case’s job, and those of the Metro District park rangers, are a small sampling of the necessary roles when multiple jurisdictions come together to fight a regional disaster such as a wildland fire. It’s incident training drills such as the one hosted April 3 by the Douglas County Office of Emergency Management that allow neighboring firefighters, police officers and other emergency responders the opportunity to get to know one another and learn each other’s strengths so they are better prepared when the real thing hits. There were 65 officers and representatives from a dozen agencies present April 3, including firefighters from South Metro, Littleton, Larkspur, Castle Rock, Colorado Springs and Franktown, and officers from the Parker Police Department and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. “It gets complicated, but unfortunately these wildfires are complicated,” said Tim Johnson, director of emergency manage-
ment for Douglas County. “We have to make sure we are deploying assets at the right time and making the right decisions. “We try to bring in a lot of different jurisdictions and do a multi-agency event, because in the real world when we have a big event, they are all going to be there. It’s a good opportunity for people to meet each other and work with each other, so that the first time they are meeting is not in a real event.” Events like these pay dividends too, as one year after inviting the Colorado Springs Fire Department to join the annual Douglas County event, CSFD sent a task force to assist with the 2011 Burning Tree Fire east of Franktown — an area outside firefighters were also familiar with because of a similar field exercise. “Part of where that fire started, we had performed an exercise there two years before,” said Larkspur Fire Chief Jamey Bumgarner. “I think the biggest thing with events like this is practicing together in a non-threatening situation without smoke in the air.”
Don’t let FHA regulations lead to rush, lender says By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Changes by the Federal Housing Authority that went into effect April 1 may motivate some buyers to speed up the process if they are considering an FHA loan. Yet while many homebuyers are scrambling to take advantage of current regulations, as well as historical low interest rates and prices that could rise, Jim Ruth, senior loan officer with First Cal Colorado, cautions buyers to take their time. “People should be buying because they want to buy a house,” Ruth said. “A lot of people sometimes will rush it, and they might buy something they don’t really want. When people are coming up on deadlines, such as for the $8,000 tax credit a couple years ago, I had people buying just so they could get that credit.” One of the factors that Ruth sees is that new FHA regulations dictate that homebuyers not under contract by June 3 will Housing continues on Page 9
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