La Plata County has enjoyed almost 30 years of tax revenue from the coal bed natural gas field across the southern portion of the county.
But with easier to acquire gas elsewhere in the country, in Mesa County to the north and in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, the boom has been off since the 2014 county peak resulting in a $7 million decline in revenue from 2016 to 2018.
La Plata County residents are going to have to begin paying their own way, as do the residents of most of the other counties in Colorado. With the population increases projected for this area, the mill levy, which is the fourth lowest in the state (and considerably lower than Montezuma and Archuleta counties), will have to be augmented and other sources of revenue tapped for services to be continued.
The county’s budget planning for the year beginning Jan. 1 is well underway. Expect a planned reduction in capital outlays, and a search for reductions in services in the budget draft. Administrative offices and staff will be doing their part, with a constant search for operational savings. Except for public safety, every position vacancy will be screened for need; filling such positions will be postponed. The materials for roadwork are on the list to be reduced, and grants to non-profits reduced by half.
Budget presentations note the gap between fees for some services and the costs, and therefore what taxpayers are making up. There is a message in that.
Fiscal year 2019 is expected to be much of the same. For subsequent years, there is an expectation that budgets have to be more sustainable, that the financially unsettled years of today will be succeeded by a more predictable balance between revenues and expenses. Whether that can occur remains to be seen, of course. The 2018 board priorities include a goal to begin developing a long-term financial sustainability plan, something that could have begun some years ago.
The additional mill levy for road and bridge work, which failed twice at the polls – most recently last November – would have helped but only slightly; a more significant mill levy increase is what is needed. A use tax on building materials and automobiles purchased out of the county is also logical. That would equal the sales tax rate on in-county purchases, and is a matter of a level playing field. An increase in fees, including on new construction, could be in the mix in small ways.
The framework for the county’s fiscal 2018 budget contains all the desirable initiatives, including improved air and water quality and water quantity, economic development and the airport. A revision of the land use code is there, as is implementation of the strategic facilities plan and completing the Ewing Mesa multi-event center plan.
The county budget will be available for comment beginning in October. The county’s leadership wants to hear what residents want, and how they are willing to pay for it.
Joanne Spina is well qualified to be La Plata County’s next manager, and we are pleased that the county commissioners have made that decision.
Spina has spent 28 years in administrative and leadership positions with the county. She was named assistant to the county manager in 2006 after a stint as administrative assistant. She began as a administrator in the sheriff’s department in 1989, and since then has experienced, to different degrees, the management styles of several county managers.
Her most recent responsibilities include human services, fleet, facilities and information technology management.
Joanne Spina is extraordinarily familiar with the county’s workings and articulates its challenges and goals well. She is always well prepared and thoughtful. La Plata County is in good hands.
