The proposed huge multifamily project within Belmar Park’s habitat zone has a street address of 777 S Yarrow Street, Lakewood, Colorado.
SaveBelmarPark.com previously exposed the special tax deal the owner of the property at that address has received from Jefferson County in past years. Our home page presents the details of this special beneficial tax treatment that regular tax payers do not receive.
Jefferson County has only taxed the property based on 4.44 acres in past years. In reality, the property is 5.234 acres. So the property owner was not being taxed on over 3/4 of an acre for who knows how many years! The Jeffco Assessor’s website shows the reduced acreage going back to 2018 which is the earliest history available online.
It is possible this property has been under taxed for decades which represents a huge windfall!
We estimate the windfall in 2023 payable in 2024 would have been over $9,000 per year but much less in previous years! (Based on the land value at 43.5% of the assessed value and the under-taxed amount at 15% of the 43.5% for a tax avoidance of about 6.5% of the total tax bill per year every year.)
However, the tax notice for the property payable in 2024 has finally been updated to reflect the full acreage of the parcel based on 227,993 square feet!
We previously contacted the Jeffco Treasurer’s office via their website form. For some unknown reason, we received no response, no explanation and no accounting for how much tax the owner has not been asked to pay over the years. If this were an error, it would be appropriate to admit that, indicate it has been fixed and that the property owner has been billed for the back taxes. But no such explanation was provided.
While the lack of transparency is disappointing, it is unfortunately a too familiar response from our elected officials when it comes to protecting Belmar Park from financial exploitation that is often shielded from the bright light of public scrutiny.
While we do not know why a commercial property owner would get such an unexplained tax break for decades, Colorado is not immune to corruption concerns as shown by the recent resignation in protest of the entire city council in Florence, Colorado.
In Lakewood, there have been and may still be secret meetings between the developer and just one small group of homeowners despite there being 1,400 homes within 500 feet of Belmar Park. Other secret meetings occur between the developer and Lakewood Planning. Yet Lakewood has an official announced policy not to answer any questions to members of the public regarding 777 S Yarrow St.
Not to mention the current owner of the parcel, Belmar Owner LLC, has secret ownership that the US Treasury Department says is ‘inherently vulnerable to abuse’. Yes, we know the name of the LLC, but not who owns the LLC. The Treasury Department even states with regard to such privately owned LLCs: “the ability to abuse such vehicles for illicit activity must be continually monitored.”
Then there is the position of the US Department of Justice that the RealPage software used by various landlords in Lakewood to calculate rent allegedly violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.
Lakewood could enact a moratorium on using the rent setting module within the city pending the outcome of litigation. Why would Lakewood want to do that? Because they say publicly at city council that they have an obligation to our homeless citizens and because unaffordable rent is a documented significant contributing factor to homelessness. And because rent increases frequently result in tenants being put out on the street. San Francisco has already established such a moratorium.
What are you waiting for, Lakewood? You did not hesitate to modify the building code for pallet homes despite the many unanswered questions. So why not take action to limit the algorithmically propelled rent increases that have likely increased the number of unhoused people in the area? Doing so would help keep people in their homes so they don’t need the city to build pallet homes for them at great cost.
And don’t forget Lakewood’s troubling and mysterious refusal to explain why a city housing authority project that abuts Colfax Avenue cannot provide vehicle ingress and egress from Colfax Avenue. This Colfax conundrum is so disruptive, it has caused an impacted neighborhood to retain legal counsel and incur legal fees in a frustrating effort to gain some clarity from Lakewood but still no answers to a simple question.
As they say, we have trouble. Right here in River City. And that starts with ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’. And that stands for PSA!
Regretfully, we feel it is reasonable to offer the following PSA.
Public Service Announcement
If you have information supporting suspicions of public corruption in Colorado, please contact the Denver Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FBI does investigate public corruption. Just this month (Oct 2024), a former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor was sentenced to 12 Years in prison for a racketeering conspiracy that corrupted city real estate projects! Yes, real estate projects! Real estate projects can be expensive and where money flows corruption goes.
The New York Times reports that: “corruption is rising in California cities as one-party rule, inattentive voters and weakened news media have reduced the traditional checks on power.”
Could that happen in Colorado? Is it already happening? Do you know the answer? If you see something, say something!