Montezuma County commissioners are championing an imaginative way to acquire a “yes” vote on the county’s first sales tax, one that will better fund law enforcement needs that are now woefully lacking.
The proceeds from a 1% sales tax, $1 on a $100 purchase and an estimated $8,220,000 in its first year beginning Jan. 1, 2025, will fund the Sheriff’s Department, the Montezuma County Jail and the Drug Task Force.
What is being spent now from the general fund, about $5,971,000 in 2023, will be retained and used to strengthen the county budget at a time of flattened or reduced energy tax revenue, and the Legislature’s and governor’s agreement to reduce the increase in real estate taxes.
Of importance, any new and old tax revenues not used for the county’s general fund budget will be applied as a credit against a homeowner’s bill to the existing 10.838 general fund mill levy.
Thus, sales taxes, partially paid by visitors, will provide stronger county law enforcement, add to the budget and possibly reduce property taxes. The only exemption to the sales tax will be on farm equipment.
In the justification for additional revenue needed for the Sheriff’s Department, the list is significant: Staff shortages, high turnover because of lower wages than surrounding counties’ pay, inadequate personal equipment and increased jail operating costs because of state mandates.
The need for additional resources for county operations is also clear: vacant positions, fewer cost of living increases, a reduction in service days, a smaller motor fleet, and the end of support for community health and human services organizations and economic development.
The Journal’s editorial board approves of the county’s revenue raising initiative, a first time sales tax. Vote “yes” on Montezuma County Ballot Issue 1-A.
Given that sales taxes fall disproportionately on those with low incomes, several exemptions would have been warranted in our estimation, sparing groceries and household energy, for example. We’d have urged them to be included, but with them the numbers might not have worked out.
Sales taxes can also be more variable than are property taxes, but so can taxes on energy, which the county has been dealing with. We have confidence that county budgeting with the new tax will be conservative.
There are numerous demands on governments and they can be expensive to deliver. A sales tax, in this case 1%, ought to be a part of a county’s revenue mix. If property taxes can be reduced at the same time, that’s a sweetener.
