Briefs Mt. Crested Butte

Sales tax staying afloat
The sales tax report for June is in. The town collected $64,520 for the month, which is about 5 percent less than the June 2008 collections. The town’s sales tax rate dropped from 4.5 percent to 4 percent at the start of 2009. Town manager Joe Fitzpatrick notes that if the sales tax rate had not changed the June collections would actually be 6.8 percent higher than the previous year. The restaurant and “other” categories showed an increase, lodging was flat and retail showed a decrease. The year-to-date sales tax collections are coming in 1.2 percent under the 2009 budget. “June was good,” Fitzpatrick said. “July—we’ll have to wait and see. It felt good.”

“We’re holding our own right now,” finance officer Karl Trujillo said of the town budget. “My guess is revenues are going to come in pretty close to expenditures.”

Weed report
Tom Walker, head of the town’s weed advisory committee, gave an update on the invasive weed situation in town. He said 51 miles of roadside in Mt. Crested Butte had been sprayed with weed killer on two different occasions this summer. That covers all of the town properties and rights of way. He said the town’s efforts “only accentuated the weed problems on various residence and properties around town.”
Walker said he would like to see the council take some new initiatives in the fight against weeds, such as notifying real estate agents if there are weeds on a property on the market, and addressing a handful of commercial properties that have not been fighting weeds.
Mayor William Buck said the requests were reasonable and something the council would consider. He asked how the weed management budget was looking. Walker said the two herbicide applications added up to about eight hours of labor for a single town employee. The town also bought a $2,000 truck mounted chemical sprayer and $200 in herbicide. “We haven’t spent much money at all,” Trujillo said.

Ballot questions drafted
The council approved wording for three questions that will appear on this November’s ballot. The questions include asking voters to approve an increase in sales tax from 4 percent to 5 percent; “debrucing” the existing 5.37 capital mil levy; and re-approving the admissions tax indefinitely and altering the way the funds can be spent.
Currently, the town cannot use the full 5.37 capital mil levy because of restrictions imposed by the TABOR (taxpayers bill of rights) amendment. About a quarter of the property tax revenues received through the mil levy must be returned to taxpayers via a rebate. “Debrucing” refers to removing the restrictions imposed by TABOR and allowing the town to use the full sum.
Regarding the admission tax, town attorney Rod Landwehr said, “In addition to extending the admissions tax indefinitely, it slightly alters the allocation of funds. The town previously drew a big line between transportation and marketing. The proposed language would authorize the use of funds in the amount no less than 25 percent to transportation, and the rest would be used for marketing and event sponsorship.”
The council had a few questions about the wording of the ballot language, but overall they felt the questions were okay and approved them in the form of Resolution No. 7. To see the actual ballot language check the legals section on page 34.