Ballot issues

It’s well known that taxes and death are the only certainties in life, but in Colorado, add another inevitability—the need to vote on ballot issues that 90 percent of the time are asking you to raise taxes on yourself. So it’s little surprise that voters in Boulder County and the North Metro area are being asked to fund a number of pet projects. Here’s our opinion of each measure:

Boulder

2A The Climate Action Plan tax extension asks voters to extend the life of the current energy excise tax for five years to pay for incentives to reduce energy consumption.

Endorsement: Yes. The issue does not raise taxes but extends an existing one. Residential customers pay an additional $0.0022 per kilowatt-hour and businesses pay an extra $0.0004 per kWh. This modest excise tax has allowed Boulder to meet 43 percent of its goal of reducing carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2012. Although there’s work yet to be done, now isn’t the time to give up.

2B An extension of the 0.25 sales and use tax from its current expiration of 2015 to 2035 to fund Parks and Rec.

Endorsement: Yes. Outdoorsy, healthy and active, Boulder’s parks and recreation are among its legacy characteristics that deserve continued funding.

2C Voters are asked to approve changes in the way City Council is compensated, changing from the current policy of paying councilmembers for four meetings per month to paying them for 52 a year.

Endorsement: Yes. This is a bookkeeping matter that eliminates the occasions when councilmembers must attend five meetings a month when they’re only funded for four per month. It’s hard enough being a City Council member without having to do it for free every now and then.

2D This measure will allow the city to lease its property to private entities for up to 30 years, a change from the current maximum of 20 years, as long as the tenant agrees to make improvements to the property that are in the public interest.

Endorsement: Why not? This measure saves the city the hassle of releasing or renewing leases without the benefit of public improvements, so it seems like a no-brainer.

Erie

Increase property taxes through a bond to fund construction of a $6.2 million police and courts building.

Endorsement: Yes. Big capital projects do run a risk of skyrocketing over budget (FasTracks, anyone?), but as Erie grows over the coming years, this infrastructure is going to become essential. Better to fund it now than pay for a more costly construction in the future. Bonus: It’s a job-creator.

Lafayette

2B Residential Growth Management. This measure asks Lafayette voters to extend the current building permit cap until 2019, to allow the City Council to set the number of annual permit allocations and to exempt developments that have already received priority status.

Endorsement: Yes.

Lafayette & Louisville

Both cities will ask voters to extend their 0.25 sales and use tax to fund open space for another 10 years.

Endorsement: Yes. Call us tree-hugging hippies if you must, but open space is among the many reasons that we call Boulder County home, and programs in Lafayette and Louisville do more than just increase livability within their own city limits but add to the overall character of the county.

Longmont

2A allows Public Service Co. the right to reasonable use of city property and easements and the right to acquire all necessary facilities for equipment storage, for the purpose of delivering natural gas services to the city and its residents.

Endorsement: Yes.

Question 300: Probably the most controversial ballot measure of this election (at least locally) is one that will ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and forbid drillers from disposing of fracking waste within Longmont’s city limits.

Endorsement: Yes. Although passage of this measure will certainly result in more legal headaches for Longmont, fracking is regulated only by the state, with local municipalities left to rely only on land-use regulations and set-backs to mitigate the negative effects of the practice. Communities deserve far more local control over fracking—including an outright ban—considering its potentially serious implications to health and the environment.

St. Vrain Valley School District RE-1J

3A will approve a mill levy increase by up to 6.72 mills, with the estimated $14.8 million in revenue used to offset state funding cuts and pay for teachers, upgrade technology and enhance early childhood education.

Endorsement: Yes. There’s no question that funding for education is at critical levels in Colorado, and until the state legislature can figure out a solution, it’s up to local school districts to do so.

Rocky Mountain Fire Protection District

5A A mill levy increase of 8 mills over four years to pay for capital assets.

Endorsement: Yes. As we’ve seen this year, now is not the time to skimp on firefighting assets.

Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District

5A A mill levy increase of 2.723 mills to pay for firefighting equipment, training and other firefighting needs.

Endorsement. Yes. See above.

Allenspark Water and Sanitation District

5A A measure to “de-Bruce” revenue, meaning that all revenue collected may be spent outside the proscriptions of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

Endorsement: Yes.

Statewide

Amendment 64 The Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act: If passed, Colorado will be first political subdivision in the world to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults (actually, it could be one of three, as Washington and Oregon have similar measures). This amendment would remove all penalties against buying, selling, growing and using certain amounts of marijuana by people over 21. Individual communities can vote to ban retail marijuana outlets. Marijuana sold in Colorado will be subject to an excise tax to be voted on at a later date; the first $40 million collected from the tax will be earmarked to fund education.

Endorsement: Yes. Marijuana is already widely available on the black market and has proven immune to four decades of effort to eradicate it through brute force. Like alcohol during prohibition, it’s time to legalize and regulate its cultivation, distribution and sale in order to prevent it from getting into the hands of children. Taxing marijuana will provide a much-needed revenue stream, deal a blow to organized crime trafficking in illegal pot and save millions enforcing current marijuana laws, which have had no effect on decreasing usage over the years. It may also encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from the schedule of controlled substances, which would open the door to research into its medical benefits, an avenue of inquiry that’s hampered by its current status as a drug with no medical value.

Amendment 65 Colorado Corporate Contributions Amendment: This is an advisory question that, according to Balletpedia: “urges the state to support tweaks in state policy on limiting corporate contributions and expenditures in state and national elections. The measure seeks to charge state lawmakers with furthering the state’s policy on the matter and ask congressional delegates to support efforts to overrule the Citizens United decision by amending the U.S. Constitution.”

Endorsement: Yes. This will codify the state’s opposition to the influence of corporate contributions in elections by requiring the Colorado Caucus to propose and support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution overruling Citizens United, which gave us Super PACs and anonymous spending on campaigns by both corporations and individuals.

Amendment S A measure that changes how the state hires employees, evaluates candidates, gives preference to veterans and make it easier to attract and retain talented employees.

Endorsement: Yes. Colorado hasn’t changed its personnel system since Nixon was president. This measure would modernize the state’s personnel system and bring it into the 21st century. Endorsed by the current and past two governors, there seems to be no formal opposition to this measure. Far be it from us to be the first.