Author: Pam Zubeck
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El Paso County reaps bonanza in traffic fines
Higher traffic fines enacted last year by state lawmakers are flooding El Paso County coffers with money from speeders, drunk drivers and other traffic offenders. The county collected $463,303 through May, compared to its expected traffic-fine take of $187,700, or 147 percent more than forecast. County revenue forecasts are based on three-year historic trends, budget…
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Arts crucial to dynamic local economy
Visiting an art gallery or listening to a live jazz band can be carefree ways to spend a Sunday afternoon. But those activities also drive economic development, create jobs and build local governments’ tax coffers, says Bettina Swigger, executive director of the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, an arts advocacy agency. Swigger was…
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NORAD declares earthquake drill a success
When an earthquake rattled the nation’s air and space warning center at Peterson Air Force Base, commanders ran for the hills. Into Cheyenne Mountain. During an exercise last month, the North American Aerospace Defense Command for the first time tested its plan to relocate from its headquarters in Building 2 to its former site inside…
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County’s May sales tax collections only slightly less than expected
El Paso County’s May sales tax collections fell 2 percent below forecasts, but county officials aren’t ready to say it’s a sign the recession is easing..“Whether this is a blip or whether we see a stability setting in, only time will tell,” county finance director Nicola Sapp said Thursday.Previous months’ totals were as much as…
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County’s May sales tax collections only slightly less than expected
El Paso County’s May sales tax collections fell 2 percent below forecasts, but county officials aren’t ready to say it’s a sign the recession is easing. “Whether this is a blip or whether we see a stability setting in, only time will tell,” county finance director Nicola Sapp said Thursday. Previous months’ totals were as…
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County workers got bonuses amid layoffs
While some of their co-workers were getting pink slips last year, about 100 El Paso County workers were getting bonuses ranging from $250 up to $2,000. In all, the following four county departments handed out $81,000 to reward the performance of 94 employees: Department heads said the bonuses were justified because remaining employees are having…
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County officials defend performance bonuses during layoffs
While some of their co-workers were getting pink slips last year, about 100 El Paso County workers were getting bonuses ranging from $250 up to $2,000. In all, the following four county departments handed out $81,000 to reward the performance of 94 employees: • Assessor Mark Lowderman — $49,500 to 51 employees; $250 to $1,500…
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UCCS center moves past military issues
Whether the issue is crisis management, weather forecasting or terrorism analysis, the emerging authority might be found at the top of the hill on Austin Bluffs Parkway. That’s where UCCS’ National Institute of Science, Space & Security Centers is located, and where it’s evolving from a small research group focused on military issues to a…
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Assessor’s appraisal: commissioners traveling at his expense
Appraisers working for the El Paso County assessor have been paying for travel and meals out of their own pockets for years so they can keep up with training that’s required to be licensed to value property for tax purposes. At the same time, county commissioners, who cut departments’ travel budgets and vowed to eliminate…
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Assessor’s appraisal: commissioners traveling at his expense
Appraisers working for the El Paso County assessor have been paying for travel and meals out of their own pockets for years so they can keep up with training that’s required to be licensed to value property for tax purposes. At the same time, county commissioners, who cut departments’ travel budgets and vowed to eliminate…