With cash short and every penny a gem, the city of Colorado Springs is checking the sofa cushions and tracking people down who owe money.

So this week the city decided to hire four new employees.

For good reason. In the corporate world, they’d be called “producers,” workers who generate new sales, i.e., income.

These workers, to be hired in the next month or so, will be expected to bring in more than seven times their salary per year by smoking out businesses that don’t pay the city sales tax.

While most of the 11,416 sales tax license holders pay up, some don’t and others don’t bother to get a license in the first place, which means they fly under the radar and may not be collecting any sales tax. The city can assess penalties as well as collect back taxes, and can even seize a business with a judge’s approval, although no one remembers that ever happening.

“By making sure all businesses are licensed and complying with the (city) code, we promote a fair and level playing field for businesses,” said Candice Bridgers, city revenue collections manager.

“We do not want to see businesses that legitimately comply with the code put at an economic disadvantage because another competitor is not following the code,” she said.

The city’s three sales tax investigators brought in more than $1.9 million in the first half of this year, or $107,579 per month each on average. Since 2006, they’ve collected roughly $7.5 million.

How do they do it?

They keep their eyes open when in the field and check whether businesses are licensed.

Their tip sheets are The Gazette and Colorado Springs Business Journal where they check ads and news stories for businesses that might not be licensed. And they respond to complaints from businesses who suspect their competitors aren’t collecting the tax.

Investigators also review El Paso County’s motor vehicle tax records to identify city residents who might have used an address outside city limits to avoid paying sales tax on vehicles. They match vehicle tax records against other databases.

With a bigger staff, the city could pursue other angles not being done now, Bridgers said.

That’s why she asked for more staff, and the City Council said “yes.”

The four new investigators, whose salaries and benefits will cost roughly $360,000 a year, are expected to bring in $2 million a year. That’s less than the three investigators netted in the past, because the pickings will get slimmer with stronger enforcement.

“But the opportunity is out there for these investigators to bring in $500,000” each per year, City Auditor Jeff Litchfield said.

All this should send a shiver down the spine of anyone violating the rules.

If a licensed business is found shorting the city, the city can reach back for taxes on sales in three previous years. If fraud is involved, there’s no time limit.

Nor is there a time restriction on those who don’t bother to get a license. “We can go back indefinitely,” Bridgers said. “They have a lot of exposure.”

‘Over my dead body’

At least one Colorado Springs City Council member hates Colorado College’s idea to convert Cascade Avenue from four lanes to two.

Vice Mayor Larry Small didn’t mince words this week during an informal council meeting. “Over my dead body,” he said.

The council will take up the matter at its Oct. 14 meeting.

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Contact the writer: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Spec. Kimberly Ankrum was welcomed home by a proposal of marriage by her boyfriend, Thomas Young. Ankrum was returning to Ft. Carson. Her mother, Sun Ankrom, watches from the side during the proposal on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2008. Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette

Jerilee Bennett