WOODLAND PARK • Woodland Park City Council will consider Thursday evening whether to approve a request by Andrew Wommack Ministries and his Charis Bible College to cancel a decade-old agreement with the city to develop future student accommodation as a taxable business.
In 2012, Christian evangelist Andrew Wommack agreed to privatize future student accommodation which would be subject to property tax. The dormitories are about to be built and on Thursday night, Wommack representatives will ask the city council to approve his request for a waiver of property taxes.
Property tax revenue, under the existing Planned Unit Development (or PUD), would be split among six taxing entities: the City, Teller County and Local Library, Fire, Ambulance and Districts school.
The city council meeting begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 220 W. South Ave., Woodland Park. The meeting will also be streamed online.
Residents who wish to comment publicly on the issue at Thursday’s meeting should register in advance. Click here to subscribe to public comments.
Public comments will be heard in the order applications are received, officials said. Public comments are limited to three minutes per person.
The city published on its Official Facebook page that a large standing room crowd is expected at the meeting. An overflow room will be set up if city council chambers reach capacity, they said.
Leaders of the Northeast Teller County Fire Protection District are against revising the agreement. They argued that campus property taxes were needed so they could add more staff to handle the projected growth in service calls.
Wommack argued that tax-exempt status should be maintained with the dormitory project because Andrew Wommack Ministries, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that includes Charis Bible College, is a constitutionally exempt from tax under state and federal laws.
He also argued that the privatized model they envisioned in 2012 was no longer working financially due to the economy and other factors.
Additionally, the board will consider a request to increase the maximum height of future student dormitories from 35 feet to 45 feet.
City staff are recommending that council approve both requests, according to meeting documents.
For more information on the meeting and how to attend via Zoom, Click here.
