PUEBLO COUNTY — The Pueblo Conservancy District said it would refund homeowners with interest after it wrongly assessed their properties as being in a flood zone for nearly a decade.
Laura Lopez Heckhausen was among the neighbors in the Salt Creek neighborhood who spoke to board members at a Wednesday meeting this week. She said she appreciated the board acknowledging the error, but she plans to attend every meeting until the issue is resolved.
"This is money and money being lost in a department, really takes a big hit and I understand that. My wallet takes a big hit when I overpay on something that I've been charged unnecessarily, so that's how I feel. I don't want to be angry, but I will be persistent," Lopez-Heckhausen said.
The attorney for the district, Don Banner spoke to neighbors who brought their concerns to the board at Wednesday's meeting. He said the board is looking into the assessments of the entire county after learning of the error. The district believes the error could go back as earlier as 2015.
“I don’t want you to leave and say the conservancy district is just blaming the county for everything, this is a human error,” Banner told neighbors.
The error was first discovered by a homeowner in Salt Creek earlier this year. Caitlin McDonough purchased another home in the county and when she compared her tax bills, she noticed she was paying significantly more to the conservancy district for her Salt Creek home. She said it didn't add up because her other property is closer to the Arkansas River and is a larger property.
She received three years' worth of refunds, but she purchased the home in 2017.
When News5Investigates interviewed District Administrator Rick Kidd earlier this month, he said he hoped to have refund checks to the other neighbors at the August meeting. Homeowners do not have their checks. Now, the district is looking into the entire county and the district said it will take time to determine the number of properties affected.
The district said there are more than 95,000 parcels in Pueblo County.
After Wednesday's meeting, Banner sent a letter to News5 and homeowners detailing some of the steps the district will be taking. The district
said it has requested data from the County mapping department to determine the correct assessments.
The district also said it will pay interest to homeowners on the overpayments, the rate will be voted on by the board but they said the interest rate will not exceed 12 percent a year.
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