The City of Colorado Springs still has about $2.8 million in tax revenue that exceeds legal limits, but don’t expect a refund until late summer, advises Chief Financial Officer Kara Skinner.

Voters agreed April 4 to let the city keep $6 million in tax revenue from 2016 and another $6 million expected this year, all considered excess under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

That $12 million is going to neighborhood stormwater projects designed to protect against flooding, thwart excess sedimentation, and safeguard water quality.

The extra money can’t hurt the city’s case, either, as it battles a lawsuit launched in November by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state health department.

The suit later was joined by Pueblo County and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservation District, which represents eight southeastern Colorado counties.

The city’s long-neglected stormwater infrastructure and problems with water quality in Fountain Creek spawned the lawsuit, despite a 20-year, $460 million intergovernmental agreement the city reached with Pueblo County last year to provide 71 projects that will lessen runoff problems for downstream communities.

Meanwhile, though, the $12 million extra going to stormwater still leaves an unaudited but approximate $2.8 million in excess tax money from this year.

Because it’s impossible to track who paid all that tax money, it is refunded to city residents in their Colorado Springs Utilities bills. That refund could be issued in August, Skinner advised.

Downtown Colorado Springs from Gold Hill Mesa on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette

Carol Lawrence

Downtown Colorado Springs from Gold Hill Mesa on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016. Carol Lawrence, The Gazette

Carol Lawrence