Durango is a tourist mecca, which means far greater hotel/motel, restaurant and shopping tax revenues than most other cities receive. Yet the city of 18,000 to 19,000 people is now told by the city council it has a shortfall of $6 million to $10 million for the next fiscal year, and certainly beyond.
Of course the council people are Democrats, and since JFK (who lowered taxes), every Democrat has felt the need to spend every tax dollar and found every tax increase attractive. I wonder if the council would need the increase if it had not wasted taxes in both the boondoggle of the soccer fields, and the wasted $3 million in building the kayak course, which after one year had to be rebuilt properly for a certainly higher price tag. Stupid planning or lack of in both cases, but hey, it’s not their money, so why would they care?
Yet the mayor and her minions keep getting re-elected by the Durangatangs (a nickname so richly deserved) of Durango, while the others of the city get the short straw. A “rainy day” fund or a reserve would require forethought (and savings of tax dollars), which by the example of the water filtration plant we know the council lacks. Truth be said, a sales tax increase would probably be the only increase to affect me, but I’ll speak for the fiscally responsible Durango residents.
Robert Goodrich
Bayfield
