Why should property taxes be raised on the whole county, small businesses, farms, ranches, etc., just to subsidize Durango? Giving Durango a fancy new airport terminal doesn’t bring revenue to the rest of the county, just uses county money to boost Durango itself.
Of course the city councilors support the airport tax. Will they directly profit because of it? Who got rich the last time the airport just had to be enlarged and fancied up? It certainly was not the majority of La Plata County residents.
Maybe Durango business owners and the ski resort people profited. They certainly didn’t raise the wages and standard of living for the majority of people in the county and they have long profited from low taxes. (What proportion of jobs in the town are minimum wage?)
If taxes need to be raised for the continued desecration of the McCaw ranch, raise the taxes on all tourist facilities and the property within the city of Durango and leave the agricultural and non-city land out of it. Farmers and ranchers don’t need to pay for out-of-town investors or Durangoans to get rich. The airport isn’t touting low fares to fly cattle and sheep to market, is it?
Although some smaller communities’ members such as Bayfield and Ignacio can be led to believe a showy airport will help them, I ask how? How many of the skiers and tourists shop the exciting and attractive stores in those towns? Nope, about the only out-of-towners that spend money in the small towns are the driving tourists and hunters. Mostly, they don’t fly in. Why should taxes be raised on already struggling small-town stores?
What dude-ranch owner at Vallecito is rich because of the airport? What store in Red Mesa profits from an extravagant airport? Who in Tiffany, Gem Village, Marvel, Hesperus, Oxford or Kline is wealthy because of the airport? Why should they all have to pay higher taxes if it only profits Durango? What they all need is better roads!
Martha R. Nelson
Ignacio
