| 1/27/2010 9:17:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Joint session includes ballot initiative talks
Audrey Gilpin - Mail Staff Writer
Ballot initiatives for the November election including a sales tax increase for county emergency medical services and dispatch center were discussed during a multi-agency work session Tuesday.
Participants included elected officials and personnel from Chaffee County, Salida, and Poncha Springs. Buena Vista representatives were absent because of a town meeting.
County commissioner Tim Glenn said the county subsidizes emergency services program and dispatch center from $250,000 to $1.5 million per year.
"If we want the services to stay in Chaffee County, we need a permanent fund," Glenn said.
He proposed using a portion of sales tax revenue to pay for the emergency programs, which "are critical needs for county residents. We've been lucky so far, but help might not always be there," he said.
Salida city councilman Keith Baker asked about regionalizing emergency medical services and fire departments.
Salida Mayor Chuck Rose said most calls for Salida Fire Department are from outside city limits.
Glenn said regionalizing departments will take a lot of time, and "isn't the most pressing issue." Funding emergency services and dispatch, he said, is a priority.
Work session participants discussed a county-wide sales tax ballot initiative.
Glenn said an issue on the ballot is a "huge undertaking, and we've got to look at it quick."
Rose said the biggest challenge in creating a county-wide sales tax is getting equal distribution to each municipality.
After working on a county-wide sales tax initiative about five years ago, Glenn said everyone was on board at first, but "when it came down to the 11th hour," finding a balance in money distribution kept the issue from materializing.
Participants discussed each municipality receiving a straight percentage of the income from a sales tax.
Finance directors of each municipality will meet to discuss the issue and will present their findings later.
Salida city councilman Steven Stewart discussed having home rule for Salida as a ballot initiative, but noted there may not be enough time to educate the public about benefits of being a home rule city.
He added that the ballot may be "crowded" to include the issue.
Becoming a home rule city, Stewart said, involves two elections - one to create a nine-member home rule commission and another to vote on the home rule charter written by the commission.
Stewart said benefits of a home rule city compared with a statutory city include more flexibility, a commission composed of local residents, who basically form their own "constitution" and there's a broader tax base.
Salida is one of six statutory cities remaining in Colorado, Stewart said, and there isn't a home rule city that has ever returned to being a statutory city.
Revitalizing economic development was discussed during the joint meeting and Rose said supporting education is a key component to growth.
Young professionals with children look for a community with good schools, Rose said.
"We could rise above everyone else who's sinking by improving our schools."
County commissioner Dennis Giese said the county is primarily populated by "newly weds and nearly deads," and creating jobs will help keep the young-family demographic in the area.
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