The first round of voting totals Tuesday evening indicate La Plata County taxpayers aren’t going to support a mill levy increase and will instead maintain the 8.5 mills that has remained static for 25 years.
Ballot item 1A proposed a property tax hike of up to 2.4 mills.
The La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s office recorded a total of 6,566 votes, or 51.94 percent, against the increase, and 6,075 votes, or 48.06 percent, in favor on Tuesday evening after polls closed. These results are unofficial and will not be finalized until Nov. 12.
In the hours before the 7 p.m. voter cutoff on Election Day, county commissioners continued to back their endorsement of the levy, but only speculated about how the electorate would vote.
“It depends where you are and who you’re talking to,” Commissioner Julie Westendorff said about the disparity in opinions on the tax increase. The mill levy, she added, had the potential to reach further than other funding sources like road-impact fees, which would be imposed only on areas under development.
Commission Chair Gwen Lachelt spent Tuesday evening at the clerk and recorder’s office as totals rolled in. Even if the tax hike is voted down this time around, she said, the issue is bound to spring up again.
“I’m not surprised,” Lachelt said of the narrow margin. “It’s really close. If we don’t pull through here, that sets the stage for the next election. The need doesn’t go away just because we lost.”
Commissioner Brad Blake was out of town for Tuesday’s election.
The proposal would have boosted the county’s 8.5 mills to 10.9 mills with the potential to decrease over the course of its 10-year shelf life. A mill equates to $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.
Depending who you ask, the increase was either a modest request to benefit roads and bridges – a depleted fund that’s scraping the bottom of the barrel – or a reflection of county government irresponsibility. Debate over whether the county neglected to plan ahead when it was cushioned by natural gas revenues has boiled around officials’ ongoing discussions about the levy – and other potential revenue sources.
Property taxes in La Plata County haven’t budged in a quarter century, and the county’s rate is among the lowest 50 percent in the state. The ballot item required the levy to be re-examined yearly by commissioners, who could reduce the 2.4 figure if they deemed county revenues stable enough.
The fruits of the increase were projected to be in the ballpark of $50 million before the levy expired in 10 years, satisfying up to 83 percent of the county’s road and bridge infrastructure needs. Road and bridge funds have been lacking, particularly as property tax revenues have reduced by almost 50 percent between 2010 and 2014.
Final vote totals are expected to be in by Nov. 12, with an election audit scheduled for Nov. 18.
Of the county’s 40,827 registered voters (including inactive electors), Tuesday’s election turnout totaled at about 26 percent. There are 33,054 active voters in La Plata County. Parker said the numbers are not unusual, and lower voter turnout traditionally afflicts election years that don’t include candidate races.
“When commissioners are on the ballot, there’s a much greater turnout,” Parker said. “With an election like this, as opposed to a presidential or (local government) election year, there’s lower turnout. People just don’t follow local items like the school board. They don’t know the candidates.”
Parker said the majority of ballots are consistently submitted by mail during the early voting period, though drop boxes at locations around the county keep “very busy” on Election Day.
jpace@durangoherald.com
La Plata County Question 1A
Yes: 48.06%, 6,075
No: 51.94%, 6,566
