Golden, CO – On November 5, Jefferson County voters clearly rejected Ballot Issue 1A. It would have allowed county officials to increase the current mill levy rate on Jeffco property owners and retain and spend money above the TABOR limit instead of refunding these excess collections to Jeffco taxpayers. Despite a well-financed campaign by 1A proponents, its 10-point margin of defeat leaves little doubt that Jeffco residents believe county officials already have the tax revenue they need to provide necessary services without a mill levy increase.
Now, the average voter would likely expect their elected officials to honor those results, regroup, set priorities, and review every line item in the current budget to eliminate unnecessary expenses or programs. They would expect elected officials to seek long-term expense reduction strategy savings to avoid potential problems in the future. The average citizen would think this sounds like an opportunity for county officials to exercise good governance and improved fiscal stewardship – and they would be correct!
A source attending the November 11 public hearing budget meeting after the election reports a number of residents who opposed 1A encouraged the commissioners to take a similar approach. However, citizens and special interest representatives who supported 1A delivered a different message. They expressed frustration with election results, arguing against cuts from specific areas of interest, and encouraging commissioners to support a new 1A-style proposal. As expected, encouraging and discouraging comments were made by various commissioners.
But did they really hear what Jeffco voters said a mere week earlier?
To the budget working session: After a report by the county assessor reporting property valuations increased 10% over the previous year, Jeffco Budget Manager Daniel Conway proposed two options setting the mill levy:
Option 1: Ignore the results of 1A and revenue estimates, INCREASE the mill levy anyway, KEEP the interest collected from the people’s excess money collected over the TABOR limit, and IF there isn’t another 1A workaround –issue refund checks at an estimated taxpayer cost of $300,000.
Option 2: Use the current process to set the mill levy by reviewing revenue estimates and TABOR limits – no mill levy increase. No cost to process refunds since the revenue estimates would align with TABOR limits.
The fact that Option 1 was presented as Option 1 should concern Jeffco taxpayers since it seems designed to ignore and message around election results. Meanwhile, Option 2 makes complete sense IF Jeffco commissioners are truly serious about resetting priorities and reviewing programs and spending to seek better governance and long-term fiscal stability.
Stay tuned, folks! The next few weeks will show whether Jeffco commissioners (1) move toward new schemes to take more money from Jeffco families and businesses or (2) do what the voters have asked.
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Votes have consequences. You got what you voted for !