News
CARBONDALE — Like other local governments and special districts in Colorado, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority stands to be adversely impacted if any one or all of a trio of tax-cutting and debt-limiting state ballot initiatives passes Nov. 2.
The RFTA board of directors, meeting in Carbondale on Thursday, agreed to consider a resolution next month formally opposing Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, due to the likely cuts in local public transportation services that would result if approved.
“For me, the argument is not how it affects government … who cares? That's exactly their point,” said Michael Owsley, Pitkin County's representative on the RFTA board of commissioners, referring to the backers of the three ballot questions.
“Government will survive, even if it's forced to adjust. But the question is whether you, the people, can survive without some of these services,” Owsley said.
That includes not just public transit, but also public schools, highways, and city streets and parks, he and others at the meeting pointed out.
For RFTA's sake, Proposition 101 would eliminate the $10 vehicle registration fee, which generates about $500,000 in annual revenue used to maintain bus stops and other facilities, according to RFTA's bond underwriter, Dan O'Connell of RBC Capital Markets.
It would also reduce sales tax revenue from automobile sales and telecommunications services that go to RFTA, he said.
“Amendment 61 would limit bond issues to a term of 10 years and require lease purchase agreements and Certificates of Participation to be approved by voters,” O'Connell indicated in a memo to the RFTA board.
And, Amendment 60 would repeal the so-called “de-Brucing” measure approved by RFTA district voters only a few years ago, which allowed RFTA to keep and spend tax revenues above certain state limits.
The new measure would require the question to be re-voted on every four years. Other locally approved tax increases and debt issues would also be wiped off the books and required to be voted on again within the new limitations.
“It means voters in Colorado Springs can decide we can't have the services we already voted for here,” said Glenwood Springs Mayor Bruce Christensen, the city's representative on the RFTA board. “I find that very offensive.”
The outcome of the ballot initiatives will weigh heavily in RFTA's upcoming budget process for 2011. Some local governments are already preparing two budgets for the coming year, one based on revenue expectations if the measures fail, and another that would mean drastic cuts in services if they pass.
RFTA board member Sara Fisher of Eagle County said her county board plans to give tentative approval to next year's budget in early October so that the county can explain specific cuts if the ballot initiatives pass.
“We already know in Eagle County that we're looking at a 30 percent reduction in revenues,” she said. That's before taking into consideration the cuts that would be necessary if Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 pass, she said.
The RFTA board of directors, meeting in Carbondale on Thursday, agreed to consider a resolution next month formally opposing Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, due to the likely cuts in local public transportation services that would result if approved.
“For me, the argument is not how it affects government … who cares? That's exactly their point,” said Michael Owsley, Pitkin County's representative on the RFTA board of commissioners, referring to the backers of the three ballot questions.
“Government will survive, even if it's forced to adjust. But the question is whether you, the people, can survive without some of these services,” Owsley said.
That includes not just public transit, but also public schools, highways, and city streets and parks, he and others at the meeting pointed out.
For RFTA's sake, Proposition 101 would eliminate the $10 vehicle registration fee, which generates about $500,000 in annual revenue used to maintain bus stops and other facilities, according to RFTA's bond underwriter, Dan O'Connell of RBC Capital Markets.
It would also reduce sales tax revenue from automobile sales and telecommunications services that go to RFTA, he said.
“Amendment 61 would limit bond issues to a term of 10 years and require lease purchase agreements and Certificates of Participation to be approved by voters,” O'Connell indicated in a memo to the RFTA board.
And, Amendment 60 would repeal the so-called “de-Brucing” measure approved by RFTA district voters only a few years ago, which allowed RFTA to keep and spend tax revenues above certain state limits.
The new measure would require the question to be re-voted on every four years. Other locally approved tax increases and debt issues would also be wiped off the books and required to be voted on again within the new limitations.
“It means voters in Colorado Springs can decide we can't have the services we already voted for here,” said Glenwood Springs Mayor Bruce Christensen, the city's representative on the RFTA board. “I find that very offensive.”
The outcome of the ballot initiatives will weigh heavily in RFTA's upcoming budget process for 2011. Some local governments are already preparing two budgets for the coming year, one based on revenue expectations if the measures fail, and another that would mean drastic cuts in services if they pass.
RFTA board member Sara Fisher of Eagle County said her county board plans to give tentative approval to next year's budget in early October so that the county can explain specific cuts if the ballot initiatives pass.
“We already know in Eagle County that we're looking at a 30 percent reduction in revenues,” she said. That's before taking into consideration the cuts that would be necessary if Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101 pass, she said.
