The Trump administration released its budget proposal today for fiscal year 2020, and like its previous budget requests for 2017, 2018, and 2019, the administration is proposing steep cuts to both the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DoT)…
— from Curbed.com, March 11, 2019
I’m sure you’ve all heard the classic joke about the city dweller who stops along a rural road to chat with a poor farmer. The traveler makes a comment about the condition of the farmer’s roof, pointing to a large hole that appears to have been ignored for a considerable length of time.
The farmer explains. “When it’s raining, I can’t fix it nohow. And when it’s not raining… well, it don’t leak.”
Even city dwellers have problems, nowadays. We have large holes in our collective roof, here in Archuleta County, and some of those holes have been ignored for a considerable length of time.
I wrote a few thoughts, yesterday in Part Six of this editorial series, about the Town government, about the ‘progress’ I’ve seen over the past 25 years. Paved streets, new facilities, expanded parks and trail and recreational amenities. Many of the positive changes were the result of state grants. In fact, many of the priorities established during the 36-year reign of former Mayor Ross Aragon resulted from state and federal grant programs. The paved streets, for example, were funded largely by the US Department of Transportation’s ‘Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program.’ It’s my understanding that CMAQ does not fund the continued maintenance of that pavement.
Expenses for the expansion of Town parks and trails were covered partly by grants from Great Outdoors Colorado lottery proceeds and from the Colorado Department of Local Affairs. Again we find that the expansion now must be maintained, and grants are rarely available for said maintenance.
That is to say, our local government priorities are often defined by bureaucrats in Denver, and in Washington DC.
The Town government’s ongoing expansion was also funded through clever move by Mayor Aragon and his administration, when the Town annexed nearly all of the commercial areas along Highway 160 — prime sources of sales tax revenues — and left un-annexed nearly all of the residential areas surrounding those commercial areas, thereby leaving those homes and roads in the unincorporated county, to be served by the Archuleta County government.
Back in 2005, when the Daily Post was still in its infancy, the Town government posted a budget that showed about $4.6 million in sales taxes and other revenues. By 2008, the Town revenues had increased to about $5.6 million.
This year’s 2019 Town budget predicts revenues of about $7.8 million. Nearly $1.5 million will be used to do marketing on behalf of tourism businesses, and to provide recreational services. And in spite of a budget that is approaching double the revenues of 2005, we now hear that the Town Council will be putting us millions of dollars deeper in debt to fund a new Town maintenance facility, using ‘Certificates of Participation.’ COPs.
Without voter approval.
(For comparison purposes, the Daily Post budget is currently a fraction of what it was back in 2005, when we had a paid staff of three people and a volunteer staff of six reporters. Oh well… times change. At least we aren’t deeply in debt.)
A friend sent me an email yesterday, suggesting that I may have betrayed a ‘pro-government’ stance in Part Four of this editorial series — in contrast to my normal ‘anti-government’ stance. In that installment, I summarized some of the many ways that our governments have been supporting our citizens with expenditures that some people could very well define as “Socialism.” A tax-supported hospital. Tax-supported schools. Several tax-supported water districts. A tax-supported library. A tax-supported County Fair. A tax-supported tourism industry. Tax-supported childcare. Tax-supported broadband expansion. Tax-supported law enforcement. Tax-supported social services. Tax-supported recreation and parks.
Occasional street maintenance.
The list goes on.
If we were to compare the range services citizens once expected their governments to provide — as envisioned in, say, 1776 — to the range of services provided in 2019… well, yes, we obviously have a socialistic system in place.
According to the Colorado Constitution, local governments are required to obtain voter approval for “any multiple-fiscal year direct or indirect district debt or other financial obligation whatsoever without adequate present cash reserves pledged irrevocably and held for payments in all future fiscal years.”
Any multiple-fiscal year financial obligation. Whatsoever.
The Town is already $3.9 million in debt for its current COPs — and plans to add another $3 million for the Town maintenance facility. The Archuleta Board of County Commissioners plans to put us $20 million in debt using COPs, to build a fancy new jail. (These rough dollar figures include the ‘interest payments’ on the proposed and existing COPs.)
Clearly, socialism is not cheap, when governments feel good about putting citizens deeply in debt without their approval. Of course, all of this local debt is not even a drop in the bucket compared to the massive debt our US Congressional leaders and US Presidents have created on our behalf. I think it’s currently in the neighborhood of $22 trillion. But in a way, we asked for this. We actually elected our current County Commissioners. We actually elected our current Congressional leaders and our President. (Assuming our current voting systems are not corrupted.)
In my humble opinion, speaking as a casual observer, the biggest hole in our collective roof — at this moment in time — is housing. (Why a US President would recommend less funding for housing in 2020, I have no fricking idea. But that’s another topic, for another day.)
So I’m frustrated.
I’m frustrated by a BOCC that tells us, very clearly, that they will not allocate one penny, in 2019, for housing solutions, but will happily put us $20 million in debt for a shiny new jail.
I’m frustrated by a Town Council that will happily put us $3 million deeper in debt for a fancy new Town maintenance facility, and that will spend $1.5 million promoting tourist visits and recreation programs… but will commit only $50,000 to housing solutions.
I’m not ‘anti-government.’ I’m just in favor of a socialistic system that addresses our most pressing needs first. Without waste. And without non-approved debt.