Second Public Forum Aimed at Generating Resident Opinions
Rick Langenberg
To tax or not to tax.
Or better yet; what is best solution for the community’s complex infrastructure, physical and fiscal challenges. Should any extra revenue foot the bill for needed equipment, key projects, or for financing a permanent town manager and increasing employee salaries?
These questions and more will be addressed during the second public forum, or listening session, hosted by the Green Mountain Falls Board of Trustees on May 6. The session, designed as a public workshop, will be held from 6 to 6:45 p.m., just before the town’s regular trustees meeting.
At stake is a pending ballot issue this November, dealing with GMF’s financial situation. This future question is quite dicey as views are extremely mixed on GMF’s current quagmire with many meetings turning into marathon sessions regarding board directives, priorities and frustrations over certain projects. Online chatter too on GMF’s current dilemma is running rampant these days.
Initially, town leaders have toyed with a possible one percent sales tax to fund salary adjustments and capital projects. However, there is concern over whether this is the right direction to go, and what extra money should be allocated for, or how much additional tax money is needed. To top matters off, there is a big question mark over how much extra revenue a small sales tax hike could generate.
According to Mayor Todd Dixon, town leaders are waiting for more up-to-date auditing and financial numbers before proceeding with specific ballot language. “We just need better numbers,” said the mayor. “What do we really need? That is the question we really need to decide.”
Dixon wonders if the town is not in as bad a situation as previously perceived, and questions whether former officials were overly conservative in their budget proposals. Other trustees, however, question if too much was allocated for administrative costs.
At the same time, the town’s infrastructure woes are mounting with deteriorating roads, fire mitigation concerns and more pending state-mandated sewer requirements.
Despite mixed views on the best solutions, few disagree that GMF could use more revenue to operate.
Summer Budget Deadline Approaching
The clock is ticking if GMF leaders want to propose a ballot question, with officials facing a July deadline for submitting a question to clerk officials in El Paso and Teller counties in time for the Nov. election. So, in reality, town leaders would have to get the possible ballot question approved by the trustees by mid-June
The future question could put to rest the question of whether the town should fund a town manager. This issue has bombarded town leaders for some time, when a former regional director of the state Department of Local Affairs, recommended that GMF pursue this route. As a result, GMF has adopted the town manager format, instead of a more traditional, trustee/liaison system for nearly 10 years. However, the turnover rate has been quite high for top GMF head bosses. The newest town manager, Caleb Patterson, who served as the head town manager previously with Westcliffe, has an interim contract with the town that expires in December. The future of his role could hinge on the outcome of the ballot question.
But some civic leaders say it’s time to use the expertise of volunteers and advisory committees more. However, Dixon, who assumed the role as town manager, believes that the town definitely needs a head administrative boss with the deluge of state mandates and grant requests. “It is not the same world,” said the mayor, at the previous public forum, in response to comments that the town operated fine for years without a head manager.
The first public forum on a possible tax question, held on April 1, generated much input but didn’t result in a solid consensus on the question of a future ballot issue. The mayor expects the town to hold regular town forms on the possible ballot plan, until a formal proposal is adopted by the trustees.
This could mark the first time leaders have asked voters for a tax increase in years.
