What to Know about Sales Tax Renewal

Durango voters will soon decide the fate of the 2005 half cent sales tax on April 1st. You’re watching the “Local News Network” brought to you by Crystal Mart and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steak Burgers. I’m Sadie Smith. The tax measure on the city of Durango’s April 1st ballot isn’t a new tax or a tax increase. Voters first approved the half cent sales tax in 2005. This year’s ballot question asked city voters to continue the tax through December, 2056. Half the revenues will be used to fund open space parks and trails, and the other half would fund a new city hall and police station. One group, Opt-in Durango, is actively promoting a yes vote on the measure.

What’s different this time? In 2005, it also funded open space parks and trails and it paid for the Durango Public Library and Florida Road redevelopment. But instead of Florida Road and the library, we’ve already finished that, so we’re going to be looking at a police station and City Hall.

Half of the tax proceeds would be used to borrow $61 million to restore and equip the historic Durango High School building and adjacent facilities to serve as the new City Hall and police station. The other half would fund open space, parks, and trails projects outlined in the Parks, Open Space, Trails and Recreation Master Plan. Those projects include developing Durango Mesa Park, completing the Smart 160 Trail connection to the Animus River Trail, and creating a community park in Three Springs. Since its inception in 2005, the half cent sales tax has funded a number of projects, including the Durango Public Library and Florida Road Reconstruction Project, which together accounted for half the allocated funds.

Well, in addition to the library and Florida Road, we have developed this facility here at Fort Lewis College. It’s Smith Sports Complex, tennis court and a softball complex. We preserved about 2,500 acres in Horse Gulch, Dollar Mountain Park, and Oxbow Park and Preserve, redeveloped the Whitewater Park, which has Smelter Rapids for those people that are on the river and many, many projects in the community for open space parks and trails.

Some residents have expressed concerns that the cost to renovate the old high school building on 12th Street is worth the price. Payments on the $61 million bond would eat up half the sales tax revenues through 2056, and like a mortgage, the total payout over time would be significantly more. That cost has some voters questioning whether the project is worth the investment, while others argue the tax is essential for Durango’s continued development.

If we have these assets in the community as we do now, and there’s other desires for development, such as Durango Mesa Park, a community park in Three Springs, we simply could not afford to do that without this dedicated tax and certainly couldn’t afford to build a new city hall or police station with the existing city sales tax.

Historically, the half cent sales tax generates about 6 million annually with revenue increasing an average of four to 6% each year. Durango residents account for about a third of the revenue when they purchase goods and services within the city limits, while La Plata County residents pay another third and visitors, the remaining third. For additional details on this ballot issue, visit the City of Durango website or Optin-durango.info. For more information about this and other stories, visit Durangolocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of “The Local News Network.” I’m Sadie Smith.