For years, the city of Durango, La Plata County, and the state of Colorado have worked to lower the cost of housing and reduce the overall cost of living. Yet these same elected officials call for property tax and gross receipts tax increases. And the very citizens who complain about the high cost of living turn around and approve those tax increases at the ballot box. Totally amazing – yet very typical for this area.
With editorial encouragement from publications like this one, these tax increases pass by large margins. The consequences are predictable: As taxes filter through the economy, the cost of everything rises. Rent goes up. Home prices go up. Groceries go up. And on and on.
Perhaps there should be more public discussion about the real impact of tax increases before voters head to the polls.
Phil Smith
Farmington, New Mexico
