Woodmen Valley Fire Protection
District
1150 West Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919
719-522-9666 voicemail/fax www.wvfpd.org website
!!! For All Emergencies, Call 9-1-1 First !!!
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1150 West Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80919 719-522-9666 voicemail/fax www.wvfpd.org website
!!! For All Emergencies, Call 9-1-1 First !!!
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2014 Tax RefundOverview It’s been nearly five years since Woodmen Valley Fire
Protection District (WVFPD) signed an agreement with the Colorado Springs Fire
Department (CSFD) so that the city provides fire and emergency medical services
for the District. As a result of this agreement, and because of state
regulations restricting ownership of unused fire assets, WVFPD has sold all of
its vehicles and equipment and cancelled its building replacement plans.
This has left the District with $245,000 in excess of what it needs to
safely meet its obligations. The
WVFPD Board of Directors has unanimously decided to return these excess funds to
District taxpayers in the form of a one-time tax refund. Following standard accounting practices, each property
owner will receive a pro-rata distribution of the $245,000.
The amount will be based on the assessed value of the property as a
percentage of the entire value of the combined District property values as
calculated by the El Paso County Assessor on June 23, 2014.
The check will be distributed to the current property owners, at their
address of record, as of June 23, 2014.
This refund process is being managed by the District’s accounting firm,
CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA). Please review the attached Q&A for several frequently asked
questions. If you have further
questions, please contact WVFPD by emailing us at
refund2014@wvfpd.org or by calling
719-522-9666.
Questions and Answers How much will my
check be? Your refund will be based on the assessed value of your
property. There are 315 properties in the District and each owner will receive a
share of the $245,000 refund based on their El Paso County assessed property
value as of June 23, 2014. Why not a flat rate
per property? Higher-valued properties pay more taxes to the District
than lower valued ones. The refund is proportional to the taxes paid in.
I just sold my
property. Who gets the check? The refund goes to the owner of record as of June 23, 2014.
There is no practical way for the district to monitor ownership on a day-to-day
basis. I’ve been paying
taxes to the District for 10 years. Shouldn’t I get a larger refund than my
neighbor who just built? WVFPD, on advice from our accounting firm,
CliftonLarsonAllen, has selected the most common way to execute the refund. Only
property value is used to calculate the refund, not time paid in. While other
methods of refund might be possible, this one has the lowest administrative
expense and follows widely accepted accounting practice. Why didn’t you just
lower taxes instead? It would take at least three years to return the money
through tax rate reductions -- refunding the money through checks is faster and
easier. In addition, our contract with the Colorado Springs Fire Department
(CSFD) restricts our ability to change tax rates as they receive funding based
on our total tax receipts. I don’t have a house
on my property. Will I get a check? Yes, but because the refund amount is based on the relative
assessed value of your property, your check will be smaller than properties with
large houses. Will this leave
WVFPD enough money to operate? Yes. WVFPD has retained sufficient funds to continue
operations and handle moderate emergency issues like building damage. Will WVFPD keep its
fire station? Yes. The WVPFD BOD has decided to keep the fire station for
now. We’d like a little more time with the CSFD agreement before we give up the
last viable location for a District fire station. What if CSFD or
WVPFD wants to cancel the service agreement? The WVPFD Board continually monitors the CSFD relationship.
We are very happy with their performance. Their response times have been less
than 10 minutes and their yearly cost is less than operating our own volunteer
department. CSFD Chief Steve Dubay assures us that their department is very
happy with the relationship and sees no reason why CSFD would choose to
terminate the contract.
For More Information If you have questions, please email us at refund2014@wvfpd.org, or call us at 719-522-9666. |
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