Ouray County 0.5% sales tax for disaster recovery and resilience

It is important for Ridgway, Ouray and Ouray County to maintain an emergency reserve fund for declared emergencies. We can expect more fires and floods, or more manmade emergencies like a hazmat spill, plane crashes or vandalism/terrorism of our areas water systems. My preference would be to have emergency money on hand for our community to respond to emergencies early and aggressively, rather than waiting for negotiations on cost that could provide slower response. A modest sales tax draws from visitors and residents rather than a property tax that would not capture tourist revenue. Our sales tax would stay under 10%. Comparably speaking Silverton is at 10.4% sales tax. Other places in Colorado have a higher sales tax. This sales tax steps down to .03% after the initial period of 4 years at .05% and can only be used for declared disasters. While states and the federal government have picked up the majority of the costs to fight the Gold Mountain fire and floods, every grant requires matching funding. I would like our local governments to be in the position to receive that state and federal disaster money without delay and without cutting normal functions/services to pay for emergencies.

This Is Not a Disaster-Fund Replenishment Tax I support Ouray County having a well-funded Disaster Recovery Fund. The Gold Mountain Fire was frightening for those evacuated, those with mudslide damage, and everyone else nearby. I understand why the County wants a substantial disaster reserve. But that is not what this ballot measure actually accomplishes. Voters are being told this tax is needed to replenish a depleted Disaster Fund. Read the ballot language. It does not say the tax ends when the Fund is replenished. It establishes no reserve target, maximum fund balance, or sunset clause. Instead, it creates a new tax of 0.5% through 2030 and 0.3% beginning January 1, 2031, and then continues collecting it indefinitely, expressly authorizing “whatever additional amounts are raised annually thereafter” – bypassing TABOR. That is a forever tax. Once the Fund is replenished, the tax does not stop. Once Gold Mountain recovery is finished, it does not stop. When federal disaster recovery money reimburses the County, it does not stop. If future disasters do not occur, it does not stop. The money can continue accumulating, earning investment income and receiving future tax collections and state/federal grants. The spending authority is also far broader than replenishing a disaster reserve. The resolution authorizes spending on preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery and “resilience”, including wildfire, flooding, debris flows, watersheds, erosion, slopes, critical infrastructure, natural resources, economic recovery, matching funds, reimbursement costs, administration and staffing. At the BOCC meeting to authorize the ballot measure, it was said that this tax is “not enough” for the spending plans already envisioned. Where does it end? There is no objective answer. “Resilience” has no finish line. There will always be another road to harden, drainage system to enlarge, slope to stabilize, watershed to treat, communication system to upgrade, or infrastructure project to fund. The resolution contains reassuring non-binding meaningless WHERE-AS language about appropriate reserves, accountability and reasonable administrative costs. But these are not hard limits on the tax. Future Boards of County Commissioners, not today’s voters, will decide how much remains in the Fund and how broadly these categories are applied. This is the bait and switch: the justification is a depleted disaster fund; the authorization is an indefinite new revenue stream without spending guardrails. If the County wants to maintain a disaster reserve, establish the (inflation adjusted) reserve target in the ballot. Collect the tax until the target is reached. Turn it off. If a future disaster depletes the reserve, turn it back on until the reserve is restored. That is a disaster-reserve tax. What is before voters instead is an indefinitely collected tax with no maximum reserve, no sunset, and no defined endpoint. The measure goes far beyond replenishing a disaster reserve. Say NO to giving this or any future BOCC a permanent, ever- growing pool of taxpayer money with no meaningful limit on how much can accumulate or how it is spent.