The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
And if you want to join the board…there’s an election in May as well
by Mark Reaman
The Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation district board of directors decided on Monday to begin an education campaign focused on what the district does and how much money it takes to do it as part of the effort to ask voters in November to “de-Bruce” the district.
De-Brucing would allow the district to return to the collection of the original one mill that voters approved when the district was formed in the 1970s. Under Colorado’s TABOR (Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights) regulations authored by Douglas Bruce, hence the nickname, taxing entities are under strict limits of how much tax money they can collect without voter approval. The Met Rec district has attempted to de-Bruce in the past but that move was not approved by its constituents.
“We will begin the campaign next month and let people know what it is the district does and the costs associated with that,” explained Met Rec board president Dave Clayton. “We want people to know what the district does in terms of television and what recreation assistance has been provided in the past. People should know what the costs of TV and recreation are further down the line. We also plan to go in front of the various government entities like the towns and county to get their feedback.”
Once the ballot issue is submitted for certification, the district and its board cannot advocate for or against the measure. That official submission is expected to happen in June and that is the trigger when the board can no longer address the question.
Clayton said that at Monday’s meeting the board debated the ballot language that would be presented in November. The question is how specific to make the language. Making it too specific can tie up the funds in ways that might not be productive or wanted in the future. But being specific gives voters the absolute knowledge of how the additional tax monies would be used.
If approved, the district would return to being able to collect the original one mill. Because of TABOR’s impact of ratcheting down mill levies when property values increase, the current mill levy being collected stands at about .57 mills. The difference is about $300,000 annually. It is estimated that the Met Rec tax on a $750,000 home would go from about $34.50 to approximately $54.00 if the measure is approved.
“As an example, our capital replacement fund estimates that about $600,000 is needed to replace all the television equipment over the course of its lifespan which is about ten years,” explained Clayton. “So that’s a $60,000 a year need. Right now we only have a total of about $130,000 in capital reserves and no way to increase that. That is the sort of information people need to know when considering this tax initiative.”
In a separate election, the board has two positions that will be up for election this May. No candidates have yet thrown their names officially into the election ring. Any interested residents of the district can run for the seat. They need to submit a self-nomination form by the 2nd of March to the district. The seats are considered to be “at-large” so applicants may reside anywhere in the valley. Anyone interested in the board is allowed to apply.
