A friend asked me if I’d enjoyed Thanksgiving, and I mentioned that we’d had a big family gathering this year. Turkey and all the trimmings. Lots of grandkids, at their own table of course. And my favorite part of the evening: a lively argument about politics. In particular, a lively argument about the failed County Jail tax increase measure.
My friend laughed. “You know what they say. The best way to save on Christmas spending this year, is to discuss politics at Thanksgiving.”
I chuckled at the joke. But, in fact, I had enjoyed the conversation around the Thanksgiving table. I really want our community, and our families, to be actively debating, among themselves, the political issues of the day. As frustrating as that might be sometimes.
Especially, I’d like to see more debate about local political issues. Especially that.
The friends and family members around the table last Thursday evening had enjoyed a thoroughly satisfying meal, and maybe that helped keep everyone somewhat relaxed during our little debate about the Jail. And, like the actual vote count on November 6, the table seemed to be pretty evenly split between those of us who voted “No” on Ballot Measure 1A, and those who voted “Yes.”
The Jail supporters (who, in this case, happened to be intelligent, comfortably-pensioned retirees) could not understand why the community wasn’t willing to fork out a measly one-percent sales tax to build the Jail that we’re obviously required to have, under Colorado law.
Based on that little family debate (and on nothing else) I had the impression that the people who voted “Yes” on the 1A tax increase didn’t understand both sides of the issue. They’d been exposed to only pro-jail arguments, and hadn’t taken the time — or hadn’t had been inclined — to fully educate themselves about the problems inherent in the Board of County Commissioners’ plan.
At their November 20 BOCC work session, those same Commissioners had done some shirtsleeve analysis, looking at the reasons why their Jail tax increase had failed earlier this month, by a slightly larger margin than the same basic ‘Plan A’ had failed last year.
The BOCC’s casual conclusion, on November 20, was that they would — themselves, without voter approval — put the taxpayers in virtual debt using “Certificates of Participation” and would build the very same jail that a majority of the voters had failed to support at the polls — thus committing the County government to spending $800,000 a year or thereabouts, for the next 20 years, paying for the jail. Of course, that $800,000 a year, or thereabouts, would not therefore be spent on road maintenance or other necessary County services.
Additionally, the BOCC would also be committing to operating their new jail. Back in 2015, when the old (smaller) jail was still in operation, the BOCC had allocated $1 million per year for jail operations. (Source: 2015 Archuleta County Budget.)
Assuming a 54-bed jail will cost about the same amount to operate as our old 34-bed jail, we can see that the BOCC is planning to spend about $1.8 million per year, out of their $11 million General Fund budget, to accommodate an average of less than 20 inmates per day. (Source: 2018 Archuleta County Budget; report from Archuleta County Sheriff.)
For the next 20 years or so.
That’s about 16 percent of the total General Fund revenues from 2018.
Is this what the voters wanted?
We heard from Commissioner Michael Whiting:
“We went to the voters and said, ‘$19 million plus interest.’ They said, ‘No.’ The voters said — and I think it was pretty clear, based on the output of the campaign team — that there was little argument that we need to have a jail…
“So the voters said ‘No’ to increased taxes to build a jail. Which was an argument, that the voters made, that said, ‘We understand that you have to build a jail. We’re just not going to put any more money into it. Build it from existing revenue.’ That’s what they said. No new revenue. We understand that you have to build a jail. But no new revenue.”
Commissioner Whiting sometimes makes thoughtful, perceptive comments during BOCC discussions. The above comment is, however, meaningless drivel. Contrary to Mr. Whiting’s understanding of the world, the voters did not say any of the above things. All the voters said — if they said anything at all in a unified voice — was that they didn’t approve of Ballot Measure 1A, as presented. Period.
I submit that, if Commissioner Whiting and his fellow commissioners had presented a different and more sensible plan — I will submit — the voters would have voted ‘Yes’ to increasing their own taxes. We know that the voters are not adverse to funding a thoughtful, reasonable plan out of their own pockets, because the exact same voters who turned down the BOCC’s Jail Plan voted overwhelmingly to support the Archuleta School District’s 5A property tax increase, which will raise about $11 million over the next seven years.
The BOCC did a couple of things poorly in 2018. They presented essentially the same Plan A that had failed at the polls a year earlier. And they refused to allow a vigorous public debate about the Jail.
The Archuleta School District had spent more than a year listening to a committee of more than two dozen citizens debate the pros and cons of a 2018 tax increase. The District’s initial plan included a tax increase of around $35 million for new and remodeled school buildings. But their citizen committee — which included people from many sectors of the community — could not, in the end, fully recommend such an expensive ballot measure.
Based on that citizen input, the District shifted gears and proposed their 5A property tax increase to be used — not for buildings — but mainly for better staff salaries. That proposal won by a nearly-2-to1 vote.
In comparison, the Board of County Commissioners never allowed the public to fully debate the Jail proposal, prior to setting the 1A ballot language. They appointed a committee of seven Jail-supporters to rubber stamp Plan A and then spend thousands of dollars in taxpayer revenues on a pro-Jail campaign. By the conclusion of the campaign, that committee had only three members left.
The BOCC will now continue, apparently, to ignore the taxpayers’ wishes.
What I would give for a really decent family debate, around a turkey.