One thing about the American Ninja Warriors on TV. We don’t necessarily associate them with wealth. We associate them with commitment, and extreme effort.
Yes, the grand prize for completing the tortuous obstacle course is currently $1 million, but in 15 seasons of the NBC show, only three people have completed the course fast enough to win the grand prize. And given that contestants reportedly have had to pay for their own travel and lodging, and that most win no money at all, we can reasonably assume that it’s more about the fame and personal achievement, than about the money.
The new RFQ sent out by the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) earlier this month — with letters of interest due on January 5 — also seems to be more about fame and glory than about the money. The RFQ seeks a developer who can guarantee the construction of 10 high-quality, affordable homes during 2024, on possibly-challenging soils at the west end of town. PSCDC is offering to assist with soil testing, pre-qualified buyers, reduced real estate commissions, waivers of utility hook-up fees, and free parcels of land in Trails and Chris Mountain subdivisions. But the finished homes most be priced at $280,000 to $340,000.
No compnay in Pagosa has shown the ability to build stick-built single family homes in that price range since the beginning of the COVID crisis. Even the recently-completed low-income apartments at Rose Mountain, in downtown Pagosa, cost in excess of $350,000 per unit.
Can a request for 10 “high-quality” “energy-efficient” low-priced homes, built within one year, attract a willing construction company?
A Ninja Warrior builder, perhaps?
We know the desperate need for workforce housing in our community. But it seems to be less important than the need to raise the salaries of government employees.
A downtown resident sent me an email the other day, that included a distinctly negative comment about our municipal government here in Pagosa Springs.
“The Town, in my opinion, has become a sales tax generated employee expansion and payment operation. Always has been, to a large extent, but not this exclusively…”
I shared this complaint with the Pagosa Springs Town Council during ‘public comment’ at their regular meeting earlier this month, just before they voted to approve a $12.6 million budget for 2024. The budget shows substantial increases in employee wages, to benefit a staff that has, from my perspective, seen relatively little turnover compared to some of our other local businesses and agencies.
The budget also shows a dramatic reduction in the funding aimed at addressing the housing crisis.
The Town of Pagosa Springs provides, competently, a wide range of services to downtown and county-wide residents… including police protection, street maintenance, an expensive waste water pipeline, park maintenance, business regulation, land use planning and enforcement, a municipal geothermal heating system, subsidies for recreation, tourism, broadband, child care…
…and occasionally, attempts to address the serious housing crisis in Pagosa.
Pretty much all of our local governments and businesses are struggling to find and retain employees. But there’s a kernel of truth in my friend’s comment. Government bureaucracies can easily become bloated and self-serving, if the governing board chooses to put employee comfort and satisfaction ahead of community needs.
As inflation drives up prices, governments like the Town of Pagosa Springs see their sales tax revenues rising at the same rate, because, of course, sales tax is directly related to the cost of goods. Should employee wages increase at the same rate as inflation? That seems like a sensible idea. Even when the work load stays the same, we can make an assumption that, ideally, employee salaries will increase with inflation.
For example, we might look at the Town Community Development Department — previously known as Building and Planning.
In 2007, when Pagosa Springs was still developing at a rapid pace just prior to the Great Recession, the Town Council put $25,000 in their budget to pay for a new ‘Affordable Housing Director’ position. $25,000 was half what the Project Manager was making, but it was better than nothing.
The Town government already knew, in 2007, that housing was becoming a serious problem. But the funding for that position promptly disappeared in 2008.
That same year, the Town’s Building and Planning Department budget was $221,633. This is the department that’s presumably charged with — among other tasks — ‘planning’ to making sure Pagosa has safe and affordable homes for folks to live in, so that businesses can function and thrive.
Here’s that budget from 2007. As we can see, the budget for salaries is $215,133.
The American economy has changed since 2007. For one thing, we’ve seen a certain amount of inflation. What we could typically buy for $100 in 2007, now costs $146 in 2023. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.)
That would suggest that amount of sales tax we are paying to the Town should have increased by at least 46%.
It also suggests that the Town’s Building and Planning Department — now called the Community Development Department — would hopefully be paying about 46% more for salaries than in 2007, just to stay competitive. That would put the Town’s Community Development Department salaries for 2023 at about $314,000.
But that’s not the reality. Not by a long shot.
Here’s the Community Development Department salaries for 2023 and 2024.
$780,700.
While the salaries in the Town’s Community Development Department have increased by $380,000 just since 2021 — for the department charged with helping ensure a livable community…
…what has happened to the Town’s housing efforts?
For the past couple of years, the Town had budgeted just over half a million dollars to address the housing crisis.
As far as I can tell, no additional housing has yet resulted from those expenditures.
But for 2024, the Town has apparently budgeted just $34,525 for housing for 2024. Roughly enough to build a one-car garage.
Where are the Ninja Warriors when we really need them?