Daily Press News Editor
MONTROSE — A sales tax alone won’t solve the county’s fiscal woes, Citizens Committee for Funding Our Future member Richard Harding said April 12, suggesting other funding opportunities to the rest of the board.
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He suggested considering a 4 percent lodging tax, a use tax and, for law enforcement funding, taking advantage of pending legislation that would allow for the increase of sales tax specifically for public safety.
Montrose County does not currently have a sales tax, which has led to a budget crunch and inadequately funded departments, including road and bridge and the sheriff’s office. The Funding Our Future board, formerly called the sales tax task force, formed last month to assess and recommend sales tax ideas for possible placement on the November ballot.
Lodging tax revenues could only be used to promote tourism, but Harding said attracting more tourists increases economic activity across the board — and leads to more people paying a sales tax on purchases. Additionally, most Montrose County citizens would not be paying a lodging tax.
“You bring more people in to pay the tax,” he said.
A uniform sales and use tax countywide would be more equitable, he said. Increasing a use tax — on construction materials, vehicles, etc. — would increase revenues while also putting the county on par with use taxes paid in the city.
Harding said intergovernmental agreements might be necessary as would a threshold for possible revenue sharing, because municipalities within Montrose County do have sales and use taxes. The majority of votes lie within the city of Montrose, he said, adding that it won’t be possible to pass a sales tax without votes from Olathe, Nucla and Naturita.
“They’re feeling neglected. They’re actually holding the keys to this vehicle,” Harding said. “They’re scared to death over there (West End). We’re on this ship together. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for your seat, if it goes down, we go down together.”
An additional option could benefit county law enforcement, pending the vote on House Bill 1344. The measure, which passed the House Thursday, allows for an additional sales tax on top of the 6.9 percent maximum, to be used specifically for public safety.
Harding said taking advantage of the provision would enable the county to better fund the sheriff’s office, the coroner and judicial district.
He told Funding Our Future board member Paul Bony that if HB 1344 passed, it would require a countywide vote to implement an additional tax, but that public safety issues were generally “more palatable” to voters.
Board member Peter Van Schaik said FOF needed to get the legal issues associated with the suggestions sorted out and convince voters.
“You’re preaching a wonderful story to the choir, but there’s a hell of a lot of congregation out there that aren’t convinced,” he said.
Discussion then focused on whether to present a resolution to the board of county commissioners by the May 7 deadline and have them devise the ballot question, or to appeal directly to the public via a petition process.
Bob Connor said he was worried the BOCC might want to revise FOF’s recommendations, while Dave Segal said the county could take weeks to approve a resolution — later disputed by the county’s communications specialist. (Ballot questions are due at the Secretary of State by August.) Segal also said a petition was more transparent and would give the people a voice.
Others said the BOCC had appointed the board in the first place and would be supportive.
“If they don’t support (resolution), we have the option of a petition,” Jim Haugsness said. “We all need to be working as a team.”
Bony said because some of Harding’s earlier suggestions would require intergovernmental agreements and in that event, a petition might not work. “I can’t envision a petition to get the county to agree to a tax that might be out of their control,” he said.
If a petition was used, Bony later said, the committee needed to know what its message would be. “I have a problem with a shotgun approach. I think we need to know what it is we’re recommending in a petition.”
The committee postponed decisions on how to approach voters until the next meeting. “We need to move on to the message and then to the delivery,” Elsa Anderson said.
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