Colorado City & County Budget Cuts & Shortfalls (Denver, Colorado Springs: sales, 2015)

[sterlinggirl]

“2009 is not the year I am worried about,” County Administrator Jon Peacock told the county commissioners Tuesday. “I am worried about 2010. That is going to be a tough year.”


Sales tax revenue has fallen considerably. County officials predicted 2 percent growth rate in sales tax revenue but are seeing a 16 percent decrease instead, Peacock said.
Sales- and use-tax revenue was projected to be about $4.4 million this year. “We are projecting it could go below $1 million,” Peacock said.
Rebounding to current revenue levels will take years, he said.
“We don’t recover, even at 2015, to 2008 levels, and that’s a big hit,” Peacock said.


Declining revenue forces Mesa County to plan for sharp budget cuts in 2010 (http://www.gjsentinel.com/hp/content/news/stories/2009/05/19/052009_2A_County_finances.html - broken link)

[jazzlover]

This is not just happening in Mesa County--it's a statewide phenomenon, and it's going to get a lot worse. Those of us who have worked with these issues for years--and I have--saw this fiscal train wreck coming years ago. It is combination of asinine taxation policy--aggravated by hare-brained and inflexible state Constitutional Amendments, constant demands for increases in public services from taxpayers unwilling to pay for them, and the ever-more apparent fact that growth does not pay for itself in Colorado. That latter point is one that the growth-lovers and Chamber of Commerce-type pimps still haven't figured out.

At any rate, fiscal year 2009 won't be fun, 2010 is going to be worse, and 2011 could be a complete fiscal disaster all over Colorado. Nearly a decade ago, a friend of mine who was a prominent State Legislator (he no longer is--no one wanted to hear what he said) predicted, based on very solid data, that by around 2010-2012, entitlements, education and road budgets would consume the entire state budget, with NO discretionary funds available for anything else. Moreover, the entitlement budget would begin eating away at both education and roads to the point that neither could keep up with maintaining even present levels of service or infrastructure maintenance. Baby, we're there. What's really scary is his prediction was based on at least modest rates of growth, modest inflation, and no explosion in entitlements--none of these assumptions likely to hold true from now on.

Put simply, the easy "fun" times are OVER, probably for good.

[Mike from back east]

Colorado Springs decided in January to cut this year's Fourth of July fireworks show at Memorial Park. They announced the decision just this week. There will be fireworks at Fort Carson (on 3 July), the USAF Academy (on 4 July), possibly elsewhere. The National Fireworks in DC are always televised and usually simulcast as well, along with their great stage show.

Myself, I think counties and cities could save a lot by not sending out full-sized fire trucks and crews to every car wreck when all that's needed are Police and an Ambulance. That eats up a lot of local budgets and wears out expensive fire fighting vehicles when something a lot smaller and with fewer people could do.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Myself, I think counties and cities could save a lot by not sending out full-sized fire trucks and crews to every car wreck when all that's needed are Police and an Ambulance. That eats up a lot of local budgets and wears out expensive fire fighting vehicles when something a lot smaller and with fewer people could do.

Ask any emergency response person why this is done, and you will get the same answer: L-A-W-Y-E-R-S! In our sue-happy society, being accused of "under-reacting" to an emergency is the last thing that a public agency wants.

[DOUBLE H]

Jazzlover makes a good point regarding the decrease in funding towards the roads. There is a good article on this very subject in today's Denver Post regarding Western Distributing Transportation moving their operations to Wyoming, costing the state a LOT of money in revenue.

I would imagine the argument would be, according to the Ritter administration, is you want to enjoy what amenities we enjoy here but you don't want to pay your end of it. And the trucking company is saying that if your taxes and added fees weren't so out of line we wouldn't be setting up shop in another state in the first place.

It will be interesting when they sort out the legalities who is in the right here. What kind of troubles me is that according to the article, the Vice President of Western Distribution is quoted as saying " they need to change the law and change it to a more responsible fee and a bunch of us Colorado carriers would be glad to move back to Colorado".

"A bunch of us". I wonder how much "a bunch of us" is. I also wonder how long this has been going on.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Jazzlover makes a good point regarding the decrease in funding towards the roads. There is a good article on this very subject in today's Denver Post regarding Western Distributing Transportation moving their operations to Wyoming, costing the state a LOT of money in revenue.

I would imagine the argument would be, according to the Ritter administration, is you want to enjoy what amenities we enjoy here but you don't want to pay your end of it. And the trucking company is saying that if your taxes and added fees weren't so out of line we wouldn't be setting up shop in another state in the first place.

It will be interesting when they sort out the legalities who is in the right here. What kind of troubles me is that according to the article, the Vice President of Western Distribution is quoted as saying " they need to change the law and change it to a more responsible fee and a bunch of us Colorado carriers would be glad to move back to Colorado".

"A bunch of us". I wonder how much "a bunch of us" is. I also wonder how long this has been going on.

Been going on, in various forms, all over the nation, for many decades.
- Many firms are incorporated in Delaware, over half a million businesses have their legal home in DE, including over 50% of all U.S. publicly-traded and Fortune 500 companies. Low taxes, friendly courts, etc.
- Developers play one city and county against each other, moving outside the city lines to get lower taxes or easier building permits.
- Businesses play one city or state against another, like the USOC deal here in COLO SPGS, spending a lot of money to keep them here.
- Severance tax rates on extraction of oil and gas. COLO had a chance to raise their ST's to match the ST rates in WY, but it lost in the recent election as the oil and gas lobby painted it as "tax raise" that would hit us all at the gas pumps, etc. Truth is, much of the natural gas coming out of the ground in COLO is shipped back east via recently opened gas pipelines, with more firms building more pipelines as we speak. COLO citizens were penny wise and pound foolish, now they are subsidizing gas for people in other states.

The list goes on and on. With 50 states, 3000+counties and hundreds of major cities, the variation in taxes and tax rates and zoning requirements is beyond belief. Businesses can cherry pick the best deals, or buy loopholes from various legislatures, and the people take it in the ear every time. If we had passed the higher ST's on gas and oil, we'd have money for the stuff we need and not be stuck in the stupid game of "gotcha" imposed by TABOR.