We won! The City Council sided with us!
Hello partners and friends ,
We broke ground for our student housing on May 11, 2022. We anticipated starting construction quickly after that ceremony, as soon as we got the permits, but we ran into some issues with the Woodland Park City Council.
The city council was demanding we pay taxes on the student housing which is against the law for a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. There are 243 nonprofits in Woodland Park, and they wanted us to be the only one that paid taxes.
We also learned that there is not one single school or college, secular or religious, in the state of Colorado that pays property taxes. They are all exempt, but none of that mattered to our city council. They were going to refuse to issue a PUD (planned unit development) unless we gave up our constitutional right to remain tax-free.
We decided we could not compromise on this issue, not only for our sake but also for all the other nonprofits. This would have set a precedent that would allow government to take away other rights. Therefore, we have been in negotiations with the city and ultimately had to get lawyers involved to demand our rights.
Last night (Thursday, August 4) the city attorney, along with five of the seven council members, admitted what they were asking was illegal and they voted to approve our PUD. Praise the Lord! This is a breakthrough that saved us a lot of time and money) that would have been involved in a lawsuit.
So, we are now going through the final permit process and have already started moving dirt. These delays have pushed back our completion date for the housing, but our builder is trying to have at least one or two dorms completed by the fall of 2023 and others in some stage of construction.
I wanted to give you this update since I knew many of you are wondering where we are in the process. I hoped to have four units complete by the beginning of the 2023 school year, but we are moving ahead as fast as we can and will get it done. The devil might have delayed us, but he cannot stop God’s plans.
We appreciate you standing with us and praying for God’s plans for Charis to come to pass. This student housing is just the tip of the iceberg. We are going forward with expansion plans for our classrooms, a Student Activities Center, athletic complex, and other things. We will be sharing more details on this in the near future.
We are planning on spending $1 million extra per month to meet these deadlines on completing the student housing by August of 2023. Of course, if we had more money per month, we could do more. So, please agree with us in prayer that the money comes in quickly.
To those of you who are already helping us financially, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. This student housing will allow more people than ever before to come to Charis and receive the life-transforming truths that will equip them to become world changers.
You have a vital part in every changed life. Great is your reward.
