Author: Eileen Welsome

Note: This story has been updated with news of the commission’s settlement. Read the update here.   An El Paso County Sheriff’s deputy, who twice shot a Peyton man with a stun gun during a traffic stop in 2007, may end up costing taxpayers $56,000 to settle a lawsuit. The El Paso County Commission will…

At this time of year, the El Paso County fairgrounds are blanketed with snow and the barn where the 4-H kids groomed their farm animals for last summer’s county fair is filled with a penetrating cold. The winners have long since collected their prizes. The animals have been sent to slaughter.  And the youngsters still…

El Paso County is increasing its fees slightly next year on activities ranging  from trail usage to pest inspection to waste disposal. Tim Wolken, director of the county’s Public Services Department, said the increases, which will generate approximately $50,000 in additional money, are needed to cover rising utility bills and offset the costs of providing…

El Paso county officials have concluded that it might be cheaper for taxpayers if the county continues to use its own equipment and employees to plow streets during snowy weather.As part of a pilot project, the county solicited bids from contractors to plow Cimarron Hills, an unincorporated community located east of Powers Boulevard and north…

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners has approved zoning regulations that will allow medical marijuana dispensaries to operate in certain parts of the county. “It’s important to do something rather than nothing,” said commissioner Sallie Clark. About two dozen people, including growers, dispensary owners and patients, packed a hearing room Thursday to listen…

El Paso County officials are being deluged with phone calls and e-mails from older residents who are angry that their senior  property tax exemption has been temporarily rescinded. “We’ve gotten hundreds of calls,” Stephen M. Schleiker Jr., El Paso County deputy assessor, said this week. The phone calls began in earnest after County Assessor Mark…

Residents of El Paso County, who already enjoy one of the lowest property tax rates in Colorado, will see a very slight reduction in 2010. That’s because the county collected roughly $321,000 more than allowed under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, which amounts to about 83 cents on a $200,000 house. The 2009 property tax…

The city of Colorado Springs got more bad news on Wednesday when the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority voted 5-4 not to reimburse the city for $1.2 million in wages and benefits paid to city employees who help manage the region’s large road projects. A grim-looking Mayor Lionel Rivera said afterward that the vote means…

Two statewide initiatives that will reduce property taxes and slash fees on motor vehicles and cell phones have been certified and will be placed on the 2010 ballot. Amendment 60,  which would roll back property taxes, received 139,960 signatures, Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Rich Coolidge said Monday. After statistically sampling 5 percent of the…