Chamber urges a no vote on 21, 24

Chamber urges a no vote on 21, 24

Sept. 30, 2000

GUEST COLUMN
By Dan Avery, Cortez Chamber of Commerce

The Board of Directors of the Cortez Area Chamber of Commerce, with input from the membership, has passed a resolution opposing the ballot initiatives call amendments 21 and 24.

These initiatives claim to be able to reduce taxes and control growth in Co-lorado, however, they were designed by a small, very urban section of the state and cannot claim to be useful for the entire state.

The board firmly believes in planning for the future in both our businesses and our community. However, Amendment 24 will result in decreasing growth and cause serious harm to the economy of Colorado, and in particular, Montezuma County.

It is impossible for the "one size fits all" proposal to meet the wide range of needs in the entire state and certainly a plan designed for an urban area would not work in our rural community. Any vote to exempt us from compliance is first, only a four-year reprieve and second, is voiced when reach 25,000 in population. This will most likely happen when the 2000 census figures are published.

Its provisions would stop development in our community and cause the city and county to spend significant time and money preparing maps and reports. Its very rigid rules involving utilities, roads and boundaries would severely limit the areas available for development and, as a result, increase home prices and limit business growth.

The Chamber board believes that no single plan can fit the needs of all of Colorado and this plan in particular will cause serious harm to our economy and our lives.

Amendment 21 will, if passed, cause very serious harm to our community and the services we need. We estimate that as many as 19 of our county’s 24 special districts, including fire protection, sanitation, cemetery, library and hospital will go out of existence in the first year, with the rest falling by the wayside in the second and third year.

It will cause our local governments to divert significant funds to this "rebate" and will require cutting services and projects. There is NO provision requiring the state to pick up these essential services and if it wishes to, it is still subject to TABOR rules.

We believe this proposal would virtually stop the operation of government and districts here in the county as some go out of existence and the rest cut budgets and services in order to meet its provisions. Operating a successful business without the services of viable governments and districts is impossible.

The board of directors urges all chamber members to learn more about these proposals and the negative effects they will have. More information can be found on the Internet at www.no21.org and www. voteno24.com.

We strongly urge you to vote no on both ballot initiatives. Please do vote. Do not depend on others to defeat this poor legislation. Your vote counts!