SURFACE CREEK January 11, 2017
NEWS
C
Section
www.deltacountyindependent.com
‘Vintage’ label said to be wrong for Cedaredge BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
An open community discussion may begin soon as some Chamber of Commerce board members think town hall’s chosen marketing identity label for Cedaredge — Vintage — is the wrong one for promoting business and commerce. The Vintage label emerged from a “Branding Summit” held last summer. Chamber criticism of the “Vintage” label was aired at the chamber board meeting on Jan 3. Singled out for particular criticism is a town hall sponsored idea for holding an “Old Fart Dart” 1k race event in conjunction with the Celebrate Cedaredge street fair. Some, but not all of the chamber board members, were critical of the “Old Fart Dart” idea saying it plays into the image of Cedaredge that businesses are trying to shed — the image of a retirement community offering little that is energetic, exciting or new. The “Old Fart Dart,” as described at the meeting, is a
1,000-meter race for fun. Participants dress up in costume and traverse the course using any means of conveyance they choose so long as it is not motorized. The “Old Fart Dart” idea, combined with the Vintage branding and the community’s reputation for retirement living, create an identity for the community that fails to attract a younger demographic with money to spend, according to comments made during the open discussion at the chamber meeting. Attending the meeting was Cedaredge Town Administrator Katie Sickles, who said the “Old Fart Dart” event is one used by younger demographic college communities. Also adding a more positive note, Main Street businessman and chamber director David Starr noted that the community needs to focus across a spectrum of young and older people to have a positive impact on commerce. What is needed, he explained, ‘VINTAGE’ LABEL TO C2
Photo by Hank Lohmeyer
More than winter
When a big snow storm arrived in Surface Creek Valley last week, it meant more than the arrival of winter. It also meant creation of a true seasonal scenic delight along Surface Creek Trail for enjoyment of the local, natural setting by its visitors.
Orchard City searches for ways to fund budget BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
The Orchard City trustees, at their Jan. 4 work session, opened a dialog on the problem of declining town revenues, dwindling cash reserves, and on possible ways to reverse the trends. Among the ideas suggested was whether to allow marijuana businesses to operate in town and so provide more tax revenue for local government. No decisions were reached at the work session, but further discussions are planned. Mayor Ken Volgamore said the issues will be taken up again at the next work session on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at town hall beginning at 7 p.m. The work session will be open to the public. (See related story). Trustee Dick Kirkpatrick presented a report he had researched, detailing financial challenges being created by the declining trend in town revenues that is requiring big spending from reserves. He reported declining revenue trends and declining cash reserves in the water fund, the general fund, and in the road fund. “Solutions will be difficult,” the report states. Kirkpatrick concludes in the report, which is based on current and past budget numbers, “It is prudent that we maintain our reserves at or above the level they are currently at, and increase the reserves back to a more acceptable level.” The report goes on to say, “The trending deserves our attention,” and then it turns attention to the town’s allimportant water fund saying, “The water fund is by far the worst of all the funds and has
been experiencing large decreases in reserves since 2012 . . . The water fund is experiencing the fastest decline in revenues and we need to address a rate increase to stop this trending to a negative balance.” Water fund revenues remain fairly constant in the face of continually increasing expenses. To fill the growing money gap, cash reserves in the water fund have been spent down and dropped from a high of $1.84 million in 2012 to $1.14 million in 2016, explains the report. The 2017 budget year will see another drop of $373,000 in water fund reserves, according to the 2017 town budget. The report concludes that if current financial projections hold true, “We are looking at approximately three years before [water fund reserves] go negative, and this further flags the reality that we need to act soon and reverse this trend.” In the general fund, “Revenue for 2016 is $332,000 and that is the lowest in the past eight years. The revenue ranged from the highest $518,000 in 2009 to this year’s low,” states the report. Projections for 2017 see a further decline of $108,000 in general fund reserves. The fund is expected to see total revenues of $261,000 which will come up short of meeting expenses that will total $369,000 this year. Declining revenues for the road fund have caused depletion of its cash reserves also. Needed road repairs will make expenditures outpace revenues by $90,000 in 2017, Kirkpatrick’s report states. The report lays out four pos-
sible ways of increasing town government revenue, including the option of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in Orchard City. “We have been approached with a request for the town to allow growing and manufacturing operations for both medical and retail marijuana. This could generate funding via excise taxation,” the report states. The report’s next paragraph adds a second marijuana option: “We have also been approached with a request for the town to look at allowing the retail sales of marijuana. This could generate funding via a sales tax strictly on the retail sales.” A third option proposed is to raise the town’s water rates. This idea could include a rate hike sufficient to help cover costs of the town’s governmental obligations to residents including roads. A fourth possibility would be asking voters to approve a first-ever town sales tax. A possible rate of 2 to 2.5 percent on the approximately $5 million of annual taxable retail sales in the town could yield $125,000 per year for roads, and for other uses. Trustees have noted that a sales tax could also require imposition of a business license in order to track tax collections and payments data. Should the sales tax option be pursued by the town board, voters can demand ahead of any vote that the proposed uses for any tax money raised be specifically stated in the tax vote ballot question. The report compiled by Kirkpatrick also suggests issues that the trustees should
be focused on as they try to address the downward trends in town finances. Those issues include: • Trustees need to determine a level of reserves maintained in each of its budget funds (i.e. roads, water, etc.). Delta County aims to keep a 25 percent-of-budget cash balance reserve in each of its departmental budgets and in each of its budget funds. The county’s $31.5 million in projected spending next year includes over $600,000 taken out of reserves, according to the county administrator. Budget documents provided by the Town of Cedaredge show it will
spend over $151,000 from its reserves across all of its budget funds in 2017. • Can a recovery in the minerals leasing and severance tax revenues be expected with new activity at North Fork Valley mines? • Will a sales tax be enough to maintain needed levels of general fund and road fund? • Is a professional [water] rate study needed? • If the community rejects the idea of marijuana business taxes as a means of funding town government, then are higher water rates and a town sales tax the only available options?
Mayor seeks citizens’ input BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
Mayor Ken Volgamore has scheduled a town board work session discussion about the issues of declining town revenues, dwindling cash reserves in town budget funds, and ideas for addressing the two problems, ideas that include allowing marijuana businesses to operate in Orchard City as a means of generating tax revenue. The work session which will be open to the public is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1, at town hall beginning at 7 p.m. The issues are not included on the agenda for the town board’s regular monthly business meeting set for Jan. 11. Work sessions are not public hearings. Official decisions
are not made at work sessions. Work session discussions may take place without allowing public input; however, the Orchard City board has routinely allowed public input at work sessions in the past. In addition, Mayor Volgamore told the DCI that he wants to get as much input as possible from town residents on the idea of allowing marijuana business in the town in order to increase tax revenues for the general fund, road fund and water fund. The mayor said that public input is also being encouraged on any ideas for reversing the negative financial trends being experienced by town government revenues and fund balances.
Marijuana taxes eyed as possible solution Orchard City eyes marijuana businesses as possible way to balance budget BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer
The idea of Orchard City turning to marijuana as a town government tax source first came up at the end of a budget work session last September. Mayor Ken Volgamore took a straw poll of trustees on the marijuana-as-revenue issue. No decisions were made at that time. The mayor later told the DCI that he felt he had a near unanimous positive response from the straw poll. He explained that the town had been in contact with “a woman in Cedaredge” who
was involved with developing a large, indoor, commercial marijuana growing and processing operation in Saguache County. The contact with the woman, the mayor said, had come through his son, Chris, a building contractor whose construction business was connected with the Sagauche project. The few details available at that time were vague. Trustee Dick Kirkpatrick was tasked to research issues and report back to the full board. Kirkpatrick presented the results of his research — a town budget analysis and a marijuana industry report — on Jan. 4 at the trustees’ monthly work session. In his report, Kirkpatrick dealt with the town’s declining revenues and reserve fund depletion, and with ideas for increasing town revenue including allowing retail and commercial marijuana businesses in town as a means of
raising tax money. (See related story.) The DCI has learned that the woman in Cedaredge to whom Volgamore referred back in September is Shauna DeMoss, the principal of a company called Vanguard Consulting and Development LLC located near Cedaredge. The company filed its LLC with the Colorado Secretary of State last March. In an interview with the DCI, DeMoss described her business as a consultancy that helps business startups and particularly including marijuana businesses needing help with various government permit requirements. During the interview, DeMoss explained that her company is involved with developing a large, commercial marijuana project in Saguache County, which allows commercial marijuana operations. The businesses are permitted and regulated through that
county’s land use planning process. DeMoss said that her association with Chris Volgamore was one of asking his construction company to submit a bid for work on the Sagauche project. She explained that she had found out “through the grapevine that Orchard City is interested in augmenting” its town revenues. She also told the DCI that she was approached “by individuals” to provide information to Orchard City. DeMoss is the author of a seven-page report, “Legal Cannabis Industry Overview,” that was distributed to the town trustees as part of Kirkpatrick’s research report during the Jan. 4 work session DeMoss emphasized repeatedly that she has had no official contact with Orchard City about any proposal to develop marijuana businesses in Orchard City “at this time.”
She added, “The truth is that I and my company, the people I am involved with, would consider bringing a legal cannabis project” to the Orchard City/Delta County area. “In the future it might come up,” she noted; but, only if the social and political climate opposing marijuana business were to change During his Jan. 4 budget presentation, Kirkpatrick said, “There have been no positive votes on [marijuana business] in Delta County.” His budget report cites landslide opposition from Orchard City voting precincts to the state constitution question on legalizing marijuana. There has never been an Orchard City-only, up-or-down vote on the marijuana issue. The Orchard City Town Board has adopted local “opt out” ordinances prohibiting medical marijuana and recreational marijuana businesses MARIJUANA TAXES TO C2