Vogt Now

Vogt Now
by Brian Vogt

SEPTEMBER 2000

The Centennial Odyssey, from conception to Election Day, will span 799 days. Luckily, no one involved from the beginning had any idea how long it would take to hold an election; and so, as it kept being just out of reach, everyone stayed deeply engaged. It oftentimes felt like those 1,000-mile car vacations when you were a kid, sitting in the back seat and asking how far your destination was every five minutes. Your father would calmly say, "Almost there. Almost there." So here we are at last. The Centennial Incorporation Election will be held September 12. In case you�ve just started paying attention and have missed the 99 town meetings, 200,000 pieces of literature, a few hundred grocery store booths, thousands of phone calls or countless dinner table conversations, here are the top 10 reasons why it is critical that we all support the creation of Centennial.

10. It's basic common sense to keep the local tax dollars you pay to benefit your own community. Centennial protects your local tax dollars.

9. It's important to be able to elect the people responsible for spending the tax dollars you pay. A City Council does that.

8. Without Centennial, you'll pay more in local property taxes or receive less. Money is siphoned off from local special districts and you have to make up the difference in order to stay even.

7. Without Centennial, you'll be paying a higher sales tax at annexed commercial stores and receive none of the benefit. That's called taxation without representation.

6. A Centennial City Council will focus state and federal dollars in your community. That means better roads (HUTF funds) and more open space (Great Outdoors Colorado). You won't be competing with cities throughout Arapahoe County for precious transportation and open space/parks funds like you do currently.

5. Centennial will find strength in numbers, providing a powerful voice for citizens in statewide and regional circles. Your voice will no longer be muted due to dissipated representation.

4. With Centennial, you won't be creating a new layer of government - all of those "city" functions currently exist within a myriad of special districts in Arapahoe County, which was never organized to deliver urban level services. Centennial will replace an inefficient and less-representative government with a sensible and representative government.

3. Without Centennial, you become a doormat for neighboring cities, forever sending tax dollars to support their citizens and getting nothing, not even a thank you note, in return.

2. Centennial citizens will have all the tools you need to create a common sense government that reflects your values and interests.

1. Centennial enables the most basic American right - self-determination!

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