Palizzi Farms Eminent Domain Fight Continues

On June 17, 2024, Taralyn Romero, Robyn Carnes, Natalie Menten, Roger Mangan, and Saundra Larsen joined the show. Discussed the Brighton developer’s use of a metropolitan district to gain eminent domain power over Polizzi Farm, a century-old family operation, and shared her own experience fighting Jefferson County’s land grab Candidate for State Senate District 16 discussed the competitive redistricted seat, constituent concerns about immigration, crime, and housing, and. Eminent Domain Abuse Threatens Century-Old Family Farm Start listening at 32:50 – Hour 1 Taralyn Romero exposes a disturbing case of eminent domain abuse in Brighton, Colorado, where a developer created a metropolitan district to gain condemnation power over Polizzi Farm, a family operation dating back to the 1920s. The farm’s owner, Debbie Polizzi, was not consulted before the Brighton City Council granted eminent domain authority in September 2023, and did not learn of it until February 2024 when she received a letter demanding immediate access to her land. Romero, who fought her own battle against Jefferson County’s attempt to take her property, has become a vocal advocate for property rights. She explains how developers join metropolitan district boards, then leverage those positions to obtain condemnation powers against neighboring landowners. The legal process puts enormous financial and emotional strain on property owners who must fight well-funded government entities. Standing room only crowds packed the judicial hearing in May, demonstrating widespread public outrage. Romero notes that one Brighton council member publicly stated on Facebook that voices from outside the city do not matter, despite the precedent this case sets for property owners statewide. “Because when you go through something that horrific, like being sued by the government and not knowing day to day how you’re going to cover the legal fees, if you’re going to end up OK, if you’re going to have something taken from you, and if you’re going to have a life that you don’t know that you can live with, it’s traumatic.” Taralyn Romero, Property Rights Advocate RTD Seeks to Eliminate TABOR Refunds Permanently Start listening at 69:34 – Hour 2 Natalie Menten warns that the Regional Transportation District plans to put a measure on the November ballot asking voters to permanently waive TABOR refunds. RTD’s current partial TABOR exemption expires when certain debt is paid off later this year, which should trigger refunds to taxpayers. Instead, RTD wants to keep collecting the excess revenue indefinitely. The ballot language claims this would occur “without imposing any new tax or increasing any tax rate,” but Menten argues this is deceptive. If taxpayers are not receiving their refunds, the effective tax rate is higher than it would otherwise be. Individual taxpayers pay over $350 annually in sales tax to RTD, funding a system with chronically low ridership and ongoing safety concerns. Menten connects this to Governor Polis’s broader agenda: mandatory housing density requirements tied to transit corridors, and efforts to convert the elected RTD board to appointed positions. She advocates for transit vouchers that would let taxpayers choose transportation options that actually fit their needs. “They want to imply it’s not an increase in a new tax. So I’ll agree that’s not a new tax. It’s increasing the tax rate, though. That’s in contradiction to what their language says because if we’re not getting our refunds back, our rebate, our TABOR rebate, then the effective rate we pay is higher.”