The March 2010 SDA Newsletter featured an article discussing an important Colorado Supreme Court ruling in the case of Board of County Commissioners of the County of Boulder v Hygiene Fire Protection District, a copy of the ruling can be found at the following link http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Supreme_Court/opinions/2009/09SC68.pdf

The Willis Human Capital Practice is conducting a webcast on April 5, 2010 to educate clients and friends about the newly passed Healthcare Reform bill. The presentation will be hosted by Peter Gruenberg and Jay Kirschbaum, and the discussion will focus on the direct effects of the bill, and the changes you will need to address in your healthcare plans.
 

The webcast will be held at Noon on Monday, April 5, 2010.
 

DENVER, Colorado – Public water entities from Colorado and Wyoming today announced a first-of-its kind joint collaboration formed to study the feasibility of a major water supply project that could benefit Front Range communities in both states.

This article is third in a series discussing the Designated Election Official’s duties and responsibilities in connection with the upcoming regular biennial special district elections on May 4, 2010. This article highlights the duties and deadlines coming up in April including, election notices, polling place and mail ballot procedures, and voter lists.

The following article was written by current SDA Board Member and former Board President, Pete Webb. The article was published in The Denver Post on 3/21/2010

Take a spray bottle to legislature's hissing cats
By Pete Webb
 

Joshua Lederberg said, "All of civility depends on being able to contain the rage of individuals." Sadly, that's still not the case at the Colorado statehouse.

Tempers there are boiling over on a daily basis, and there's no one using a spray bottle on these hissing cats.

On Friday, Governor Ritter released a statement on the March revenue forecast for Colorado. The news was promising, but Ritter acknowledged the upcoming difficulties the state faces as the economic recovery process continues.
 

His release is as follows:
OFFICE OF GOV. BILL RITTER, JR.
WWW.COLORADO.GOV/GOVERNOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRIDAY, MARCH 19, 2010

CONTACTS
Evan Dreyer, 720.350.8370, evan.dreyer@state.co.us
Megan Castle, 303.319.8513, megan.castle@state.co.us

Note: This article is meant to alert all special districts that the proposed amendments can and or will (if passed) affect special districts. We ask that you read the following information and watch your email for updates. If you have comments or questions please contact Ann Terry, ann.terry@sdaco.org or Evan Goulding, evan@sdaco.org.

Estimated impacts by Colorado Strategies and Bell Policy Center. Subject to revision.

Amendment 60 amends TABOR

In continuation of yesterday’s discussion of proposed ballot issues, Please see the information below from Sherman & Howard on the issues surrounding Amendment 61.

SDA is actively opposing Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61 which will be decided by voters in November. In order to provide more detailed information on some of the major problems with these initiatives, Sherman & Howard has created an advisory that SDA would like to share with our members. It is important that voters across Colorado understand the negative ramifications of this trio of ballot issues.

Here is a section of that advisory dealing with Amendment 60:

This November, the citizens of Colorado will be responsible for deciding on three important ballot issues: Proposition 101, Amendment 60 and Amendment 61. This trio of initiatives could prevent the State of Colorado and local governments from providing basic, necessary services to its citizens. The Special District Association is actively participating in a campaign to oppose these Amendments and is focusing our bulletins this week on discussion of the issues in question.