The importance of providing better compensation for sheriff’s deputies and staff was one of the main topics discussed Tuesday night at a forum for candidates for the Montezuma County Commission.

Roughly 40 citizens turned out to hear the hopefuls’ views on public-safety issues at the forum, which was hosted by the Fraternal Order of Police.

Both of the two incumbent commissioners whose terms are up this year face challengers in the Aug. 8 primary.

In District 2, representing the Cortez area, incumbent Kent Lindsay faces challenger Ray Gallacher for the Republican nomination. In the November general election, the winner faces Democrat Tony Valdez, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

For District 3, representing the area south of Cortez and Mancos, incumbent Kelly Wilson is up against challenger Lyle Rice for the Democratic nomination. That winner will battle unaffiliated candidate Darrel Veach in the November election.

Without competitive employee wages, the law-enforcement department risks losing good officers to higher-paying jobs on the Front Range and elsewhere. But a limited tax base and the uncertainty of a county budget largely dependent on sales taxes from the unstable CO2 industry makes it a tough challenge to beef up employee benefits.

When asked by moderator Lt. Terry Steele how that hurdle could be overcome, Rice said that he would seek funds locally rather than depend on federal grants to further support the county’s safety programs. He suggested that the needs be met through county taxes because accepting outside money means "that they have their thumb on us, and I think everyone here would agree that we do not want that. We should be able to control our own budget so that we can be the ones making the decisions."

Gallacher disagreed. "We pay federal taxes, so we deserve our share," he said. "We need to find out who is holding the purse strings with the county budget and then better compensate and train our law enforcement to protect our rights."

Lindsay reminded the crowd how difficult it is to increase taxes in a county that is economically depressed. He said county administrators must operate in a survival mode regarding the county’s $5.5 million budget, 30 percent of which goes to fund the detention center and sheriff’s department.

"In 1992 a 1 percent sales tax was denied, and then in 1994 another 1 percent increase was overwhelmingly defeated, so until the people of our county decide to increase funding, then we will be faced with low budgets," Lindsay said. "As far as grants, the commission supports every one that comes to us, but we are up against every other community who is applying for them across the country."

Valdez supports what is called "de-Brucing" of the county, a type of ballot initiative that if passed by voters allows governments to retain revenues, including grants, that would otherwise exceed limits set by the state’s Taxpayers Bill of Rights.

Wilson said that the key is efficiency in distributing limited county funds to all the departments fairly, noting that shifting funds to benefit one department over another will not work and is unfair.

"If we increase budgets for the sheriff’s department, then we will be taking away from social services or the clerk’s office, which are equally important," he said, explaining that the county has established a contingency fund to handle the impacts of growth in the county.

Wilson said that rural counties are at a disadvantage because of the state’s Gallagher Amendment, which requires businesses to pay higher property taxes proportionately than homeowners. More populated counties have more commercial businesses and hence collect more property taxes needed to provide competitive employee packages and other services.

"Those larger houses we see going up are not paying their fair share," he said.

A member of the audience queried the candidates on whether they would ban fireworks during drought years, and why it wasn’t done during the wildland fires that consumed much of Los Alamos, N.M., a community surrounded by tinder-dry piñon-juniper forests similar to those around towns in southwest Colorado.

Wilson said that there was a fire ban put into effect that included using fireworks, but not selling them, a policy that raised the ire of several audience members. Lindsay said that the commission needed to be careful how far they took the ban, since other combustibles such as cars also cause fires.

"Should we ban them and chainsaws also? Where would you stop?" he asked. "Cars cause fires too."

"I do not think we should test the odds," said Gallacher.

Sheriff Detective Kalvin Boggs pressed the issue of increased funding to pay for better law-enforcement benefits and more training. Currently a sheriff deputy pulls in $26,000 per year, with health benefits that do not include coverage for the family.