BOULDER COUNTY LAND GRAB - THE ULTIMATE TAX SWINDLE
Hundreds of landowners have lost property because of Boulder County’s practice of “merging” two side-by-side lots into one parcel. Since the County does not notify landowners that this is happening to them, many are totally unaware and are still paying taxes on two separate lots- which the County apparently finds acceptable. Some landowners are aware but believe there is nothing that they can do about it or they cannot afford an attorney to help them recover their land. The merged lots are frequently valued far lower than the combined value of two separate lots – wreaking havoc with investments made for retirement, college tuition or “rainy day” emergencies.
THE GREENE’S STORY
Richard and Dale Greene are the kind of neighbors that everyone would love to have – hardworking, innovative people who regularly volunteer a great deal of their time in the community – EcoCycle, Plan Boulder, the Pine Brook Hills Fire Board, to name a few - and their favorite cause - Open Space. As an active member of the Sierra Club, Richard has worked closely with Boulder County on Open Space issues, served on the Open Space Advisory Board and helped with Open Space tax initiatives.
When the Greenes moved to Colorado in 1986, this entrepreneurial couple had already started several businesses elsewhere. All of that effort had earned them the privilege of living in a beautiful ridge-top home in Pine Brook Hills, surrounded by open space. After a year in their private paradise, Richard and Dale had the opportunity to buy the adjoining lot from the same person who had sold them their first lot. This adjacent land had been deeded as a building site in 1967 and the property owner had begun construction of a house on it. The Greenes, however, planned to leave the lot in its natural state.
Meanwhile, the Greene’s entrepreneurial spirit had re-surfaced in Colorado. They started two new businesses and when their businesses needed money in 1995, Richard and Dale decided to mortgage the vacant lot which was then worth about $250,000 - five times what they had paid for it. They thought it would be a routine loan. They were totally unprepared for the shock that followed. The Greenes discovered that Boulder County had merged their two lots into one without telling them – and they were still paying taxes on two separate lots.
It seems that in 1993, Boulder County had adopted a new Land Use Code provision. The County claimed it gave them the right to consolidate two side-by-side lots owned by the same property owner. The County failed to notify Richard and Dale that their two lots had been merged into one, so the unsuspecting Greenes continued to pay taxes on two parcels of land. The Greenes discovered that if they had titled the new land in a different name, the County would have left the parcels as two separate lots.
In the meantime, despite the fact that property values were soaring, the first lot didn’t benefit from the extra land that was now attached to it. Instead of being worth $250,000, the second lot only added $10,000 in value to the first lot. The County was, in effect, taking $240,000 from the Greenes.
It cost the Greenes $20,000 in legal fees to re-claim what was already theirs. After six months of stressful haggling, the County Attorney finally agreed that the lots should not have been merged and that the Greenes had been reasonable in expecting that their lot could be used as an investment. But the County Attorney’s recommendation was only that – a recommendation. The Greenes still had to take their case to the Boulder County Commissioners.
At the hearing, the Commissioners acknowledged that the Greenes had two separate lots, but moved the boundary line between the two lots 400 feet towards the Greene’s existing house. This, in effect, shrank the Greene’s first lot from 3 1/2 acres to 1 1/2 acres and expanded the adjacent lot an equal amount. Then the Commissioners went on to move the building site on the second lot right next to the Greene’s existing house - so the two homes would look like one structure from the plains below!
The Greenes, wary of future Boulder County land schemes, sold their embattled lot – and a new house now sits a stone’s throw away from their front door. Constant traffic now assaults their once secluded retreat and Richard and Dale can now see into their neighbors windows at close range. The County got its way – two houses that look like only one from the plains below.
The final chapter to the story came last month. The Greene’s request to recoup the extra taxes they had unfairly paid after the lots had been merged was denied. There is a state law which puts a two year limit on tax abatements – and Boulder County says it was just too busy to notify the Greenes that their lots had been merged.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Because of this case, and dozens of others like it, the Land Use Coalition has established a legislative committee to study statewide legislation aimed at protecting individual landowners from this loss of property.
The Land Use Coalition believes that elected officials should be held accountable for their actions. If you have comments about these issues that you would like to forward to the Boulder County Commissioners, you can reach Ron Stewart, Paul Danish, or Jana Mendez at (303) 441-3500.
The Land Use Coalition is a diverse, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to Open Space, wildlife preservation and reasonable land use regulations. The LUC has influenced important statewide land use legislation and helped shape local land use regulations.
This space was paid for by citizen donations to the Real People, Real Stories Committee of the Land Use Coalition in an effort to inform the public about the impact of land use issues on real people in the community. This story is printed with the permission of the landowner who has verified the facts to be true.
Do you have a story you’d like to tell? We invite and encourage your participation and support. For more information call (303) 666-7903 or visit our website at http://landusecoalition.org.
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For more information contact the Land Use Coalition at info@landusecoalition.org or call 303-666-7903.
Last updated January 24, 2002.
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