Castle Rock – A citizens committee will ask their fellow Douglas County voters to pass one tax and extend another to beef up law enforcement.
The wealthy, fast-growing county falls far short of national and regional averages for patrol cops per person.
Douglas County has 76.8 patrol officers per 100,000 residents while Boulder County has 235.9; Jefferson County 104.3; and Adams County 152.6, according to the report by a 35-citizen study group convened by Sheriff Dave Weaver.
“In order to maintain our level of service, we will clearly need more patrol officers as the county grows,” the report to the county commission states. “Without more officers, response time will suffer.”
The report calls for two funding measures, one new and the other an extension of an existing tax:
A new 1.5 mill property tax would directly fund new patrol deputies. In Douglas County, a $300,000 home, for example, would see a $35.82 annual property tax increase, according to the county tax assessor’s office.
Voters could decide whether to extend a 0.13 cents sales tax for construction and maintenance of the county justice center from a 2011 end date to 2020, then leave a permanent 0.10 percent tax in place for operations.
The Board of County Commissioners will hear the proposals today, said county spokeswoman Wendy Holmes.
She noted that other tax increases are also being discussed countywide and in individual communities, including possibly a library tax, a increase for roads and bridges and, in Lone Tree, a tax increase to build an arts center and recreational facilities.
“There’s a number of initiatives being discussed right now, and the board will be considering all those initiatives over the next couple of months,” Holmes said.
Weaver will meet with commissioners about the proposal today, said department spokeswoman Cocha Heyden.
“The sheriff feels that the (tax) initiatives are extremely important, because adding additional resources will assist with the overall goal of increasing efficiency within the sheriff’s office, as well as an increase in public safety,” she said.
The report noted that the county’s 124 patrol deputies answered about 120,000 calls in service in 2006, or 968 calls per officer.
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
