Big contributors to the campaign of Adams County Assessor Gil Reyes have seen big reductions to the taxable values of properties they own.
Coincidence? Hard to say, but one thing is for sure, it’s a situation that bears further investigation.
JoAnn Groff, Colorado’s property- tax administrator, ought to look into whether anything is awry, and we think Adams County law enforcement also should check out what is going on in the assessor’s office.
It is important that Adams County taxpayers have confidence that theirs is a just system of valuation and taxation.
A story in The Sunday Denver Post by David Olinger meticulously documented a disturbing number of cases in which those who gave generously to Reyes’ campaign fund successfully challenged the value of their properties.
Reyes emphatically told Olinger that politics weren’t involved in such decisions. Yet, he also acknowledged that some properties owned by campaign supporters might be taxed at unjustifiably low rates.
Reyes pledged to fix any valuation discrepancies, and we’re glad for that. However, we think the situation also merits an outside look.
There are few things more corrosive to public trust than the suspicion on the part of citizens that their government’s favors can be bought.
There is also the very real matter of public revenues.
If certain taxpayers get an unmerited break, either that money is made up by increased taxes levied on other taxpayers or services are curtailed. Both options are unfair.
We would hope that Reyes would welcome investigations into his office’s practices and offer his cooperation. The matter cannot go unexamined by outside authorities.
Olinger’s report was replete with examples of those who donated to Reyes’ campaigns and received favorable considerations from his office.
For instance, officers and limited liability companies associated with Majestic Realty Co., of California, gave Reyes’ campaigns $14,000. Majestic has a 1,000-acre warehouse development near Denver International Airport. In 2003, nine warehouses in the complex received notices their valuations were increasing. The owners appealed and lost. But in 2005, they appealed directly to Reyes and their values were rolled back. Similar warehouses in the area are valued higher.
Reyes said he never knew the warehouse developer was a major campaign contributor, and the reductions were based on confidential financial information provided by the company. It seems unlikely that a county official would not be aware of such a significant contributor, but it’s possible. And perhaps the reductions are justified based on the confidential information.
It is in everyone’s interest to substantiate or disprove such notions as soon as possible so government can get on with the business of governing and citizens then could have confidence in the integrity of their public officials.
