Fire victims hear from El Paso County officials about recovery
TJ Lippert has spent
The fire also consumed about 3 1/2 miles of his fence -- worth
But he considers himself lucky. He has insurance.
Lippert, 49, has spent nearly every day since the
"My daughter graduated Friday from (the
Dozens of people came to the meeting to hear from Assessor
Lippert, like several others, planned to gather information at the meeting to bring back to friends and neighbors.
"A lot of the people that are gonna need this info, they're not gonna come to this meeting," he said.
The 117 fire in southern
The fire burned about 42,795 acres -- the county's most to date -- but caused no deaths or severe injuries.
During the meeting, officials went over county regulations and tax information relevant to people whose properties burned.
County commissioners voted
The temporary tweaks let residents live in recreational vehicles while they rebuild and let staff waive or reduce development application fees.
Residents also can rebuild "accessory structures," such as guest houses or sheds, before rebuilding their main homes.
Schleiker said his office sent a special notice of value last week to affected property owners. As he said earlier, they won't have to appeal their assessments by
And residents don't have to worry about their property being re-classified from residential to non-residential over the next few years, he said. The tax rate for vacant land is several times the tax rate for occupied land, he said.
Owners of agricultural land also won't lose that classification, he said.
"Guys, our thoughts and prayers have been with you ever since the middle of April when this fire started. And unfortunately, I have to say my office has gotten pretty good at damage assessment, which is nothing to brag about," Schleiker said.
He told the crowd he plans to work with property owners case by case.
"I'm still working with folks in
"They answered some of the questions we had," he said. "The problem was, it was just too much of a generalized meeting."
He lost a barn at his property off of
His primary residence is in the Security-Widefield area.
"Right now, I don't know," he said. "I might just have to clear the property and leave the barn for years later when I've got the money to rebuild it, because I've got no insurance to cover it." -- Contact
Twitter: @lemarie
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