Once again the residents of Bayfield are being asked to raise the Bayfield sales tax 1 percent. If passed – and it does need to pass – money will be dedicated to maintaining streets and other developed transportation infrastructure, including sidewalks and trails.
Recent street improvements came about as a result of the town having a dedicated funding source for those improvements. The problem with that fund, however, is that was not established with dedicated source of revenue on an ongoing basis. This is where the sales tax increase comes in.
As a dedicated source of funding for streets, sidewalks and trails, money collected to enhance the fund could and can often be leveraged to garner more funds from the state for those expressed purposes. Furthermore, by having dedicated revenue for transportation needs, other general fund needs would easier for the town to meet as transportation improvements are more easily managed with a dedicated funding source.
Yes, our streets are currently in good shape. But that will continue if we fund a sound street budget.
The choice is clear; we can have nice streets and walking paths that are properly maintained or not. The town has spent too much to get the streets in good shape to allow the alternative. Planned bridge work on Bayfield Parkway over the Pine River will challenge the balance in the current fund and without an ongoing funding source, other needed street maintenance will certainly suffer.
You already are paying a higher sales tax when you shop in Durango or Farmington. And you are supporting the issues and infrastructure that those community’s voters have decided that is important to them. Good streets and sidewalk should be important and a priority for resident of Bayfield. Shopping in Bayfield should also benefit our community the same as in surrounding communities.
The third time should be the charm. Ballots will soon be in your hands. Don’t waste time in returning them and please vote “yes” on this initiative to increase the sales tax in Bayfield. It is time to get our sales taxes working better for us.
David Black
Bayfield
