CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — Voters in Douglas County are less than a week away from a special election to determine whether or not to form a home rule charter commission.
Efforts to become a home rule county have been underway by the Board of Commissioners for months. Viewers are reaching out to Denver7 curious about how it's all being funded.
Barbara from Parker sent an email with questions about "who's behind the money?"
Commissioner George Teal said the special election is not costing taxpayers any money the board didn't already have set aside.
"So this is not costing a dime to the people of Douglas County that we didn't already have set aside and reserved for a special election," Teal said. "Whether it was for home rule, whether it's a special election to fill a vacancy, whether it's a special election for an emergency, all that money comes from the same place, and the state of Colorado requires us to have it on hand every single year."
Denver7 wanted to fact check this, so we requested financial documents from the board to see how their funding is divided.
We were told from a spokesperson the funding will come from their general fund contingency, which sets money aside for anything that comes up, not just elections.
The budget powerpoint she provided said in part, "The General Fund is used to account for all resources associated with traditional government functions that are not required legally or by sound financial-management practices to be accounted for in another fund. As the County’s main operating fund, the General Fund accounts for general County operations such as public safety, planning and zoning; parks and recreation; tax assessments and collection; motor vehicle licensing; elections; finance; and administration."
Barbara also raised concerns about a support group for home rule that she said raised over $100,000 from five contributors. One, she said, is based out of California.
"Why is it somebody outside the state, and why are they putting their nose in this issue? Why is someone from California putting up money on this issue in Douglas county?" Barbara asked Denver7.
Teal said he's only aware of donations coming from Douglas County residents. He said he can't speak to the rest.
"No, no no," Teal said. "The money for putting forward the special election is actually in a reserve fund that our clerk and recorder must maintain, and we must keep on the budget whether there's a special election or not, and most years we don't have special elections."
So where is that money raised by groups going?
"I can tell you that there are a whole lot of signs up around Douglas County, both in favor of home rule and against home rule. I would assume that money that may be raised by any of of these, any of these special issue committee fundraising committees that are out there, they're buying those signs," Teal said. "But you're asking me to speculate, and I want to to make that clear, and I want that to be on the record, please. You asked me to speculate. That's my speculation. I really can't speak to specifics."
On June 24, Teal said voters will answer three questions:
- Should Douglas County form a home rule charter commission?
- Vote for three at large charter commission members.
- Within your district, choose six commissioners to represent you and your neighbors.
If voters approve this step, the measure will then be on the November ballot for a final vote.
If the county becomes home rule, commissioners said it puts more money back in the hands of the county.
"I think the biggest challenge has been, what does this do to our relationship with the state? We've heard people say, 'Oh, you guys are seceding from the state.' Well, that's not true," Teal said. "We're making use of a right and privilege for local communities."
Commissioners have said it allows them to make governing decisions on local matters, like limits on debt, taxes and use of parks and open space.
