Colorado Corruption

In March we ran a number of stories about government overreach in Colorado where farmers, who dedicated a certain amount of property that they owned to non-farm use such as conservation, were issued tax credits that could be sold. Alan and Julie Gentz, owners of a farm in Sterling Colorado did just that… The government, specifically the Colorado Dept. of Revenue, reversed its policy for unexplained reasons and the Gentz family received a bill from the state for over $700,000 which was a result of the dollar for dollar tax credits, interest and penalties. I just called Alan Gentz and learned that there are continuing developments which suggest that Colorado is, in Alan’s words, corrupt in these matters.

 

Here’s Alan reading from a local newspaper “The Journal – Advocate”. “The lobbyist for the Colorado Coalition of Land Trusts, Benjamin Waters, is accused of lying about whether Gov. John Hickenlooper would sign a compromise bill sponsored by State Rep. Jon Becker, R-Fort Morgan. That bill, which was unexpectedly killed Friday in a committee vote, would have spared landowners fighting with the state over conservation easement tax credits the need to post a bond in order to take the state to court.

Alan Gentz of Sterling is one of those landowners; he's suing the Colorado Department of Revenue and several state officials, and has joined a federal action against the state over millions of dollars in tax credits Gentz and other landowners have been awarded as part of their conservation easements. A Logan County District Court judge already has ruled against the state's requirement that Gentz post a $1.5 million bond before he can sue the state. Becker's bill would have eliminated the need for landowners like Gentz to have a court throw out the bond requirement.