The day after Macon Cowles criticized and corrected a Boulder Daily Camera article about the proposed City budget (via the Hotline and reproduced below) the paper, in its front page article (Error Leads to Tax Discount, 8/24/2010) invented a scandal and, in so doing, legitimized a personal vendetta against the Boulder councilman.
This is revenge journalism and it is where we find our local newspaper today.
Instead of offering a correction to its seriously flawed article about the budget, the Camera ran an “investigation” of Cowles’ home’s assessed value. Cowles, like most people, pays his property taxes each year. Cowles and his wife, like many people today, are downsizing to a smaller house. Cowles, like those of us who’ve lived in our houses for decades, will not know the actual value of his home until he sells it. Cowles, like every homeowner in Boulder, relies on the county assessor to determine the taxable value of his home. That’s the whole scandal, folks.
The Camera article begins with the casually phrased, “Some Boulder residents are calling for . . .” Who are these “some”? The article identifies one person. Of course, it must be a front page story if a guy with a grudge says it is. So what can we expect next?
Some Boulder residents think Macon Cowles has a tail. With questions about his anatomy swirling around the community, we asked the councilman, “How can you drive safely with a tail? Does it wag when you’re happy?” Councilman Cowles has only provided one response: “No comment.” The questions remain unanswered and the controversy continues.
Heaven help anyone running for City Council these days. Some people might try to destroy you, and they may receive help from the local newspaper.
Cowles' Hotline post
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Back in the 80′s, I purchased a foreclosed condo in Boulder from HUD. I paid something like $40,000 for it and it was in rough shape.
When it was time to be assessed, the Boulder County Assessor’s office put a value of $70,000 on the property. I took them my closing documents to show them what I paid for it and argued that the value should be the purchase price but they just said, sorry, according to the comparable units in your neighborhood, this is what your unit is worth so the assessment stands.
My point being that price does not equal assessed value and it takes a trend of sales in a neighborhood to change the assessed value of a house, not just one sale.
I did not see the Camera article as revenge, but I can understand how the timing might make it look that way. It seems to me that Macon Cowles is in a very special position with regard to his property tax and house size. He led the Planning Board for several years, then became in 2007 a City Councilperson, and he has been at the forefront of a drive to limit others from expanding their houses (or carbon footprints, perhaps) at will…his statement that “a realtor set the price for the house” is a little too easy. I doubt that the realtor was alone in setting a price, and I am sure Mr. and Mrs. Cowles have a pretty good idea what the perceived value of their house and their neighborhood is. The City Councilor may have a further duty to know and monitor what the taxes on such a property are…not necessarily leaving it to the assessor like the general public might. It is certainly at least the appearance of impropriety to feign ignorance on both the actual value and the tax rate of your own home when you are so closely involved and entrusted with determining what those numbers are for the general public.
I am afraid I find your argument very disingenuous. Macon is not “so closely involved and entrusted with determining what those numbers are for the general public.” At least not the direction of LOWER value that you are allegeding. True assessed values involve a huge bureaucracy with the county and state, as to the value of structures/land and the rapidly changing distinction between the two.
Couldn’t pay me to live up so far North on Norwood where Macon is, as transportation costs and productivity time values are escalating. Look at my comment to Roger.
Compatible development actually increased the value of properties because it demonstrated the added value of the quality of the neighborhood’s feel. Macon will be lucky if he can find a place closer in for what he gets for that place, even minus many of the ammenities.
Nonsense. Macon got his tax assessment cut by nearly 1 million dollars. He’s a public official and a big boy. The Camera has a responsibility to report stories like that. The problem is that the current crop of council members going back to Mark Ruzzin and Shawn McGrath have tried to sway. influence, lobby, badger and threaten media. The city just had to settle with Seth Brigham for $10,000 because the council including Cowles continually tried to subvert the first amendment in Boulder. You will all remember their losing battle in trying to silence me.
They would have better luck trying to sell open space to land developers. The press will not be muzzled by any political group. Be it the Tea party or Plan Boulder.