Westcliffe Wants a 50% Sales Tax HIKE
Taxpayer Wants to Know Why

A Letter to the Editor;
by John G. Johnston
The Town of Westcliffe is counting on your apathy to get away with increasing your sales tax by 50%. Since I have lived here…and long before that, the town has had one of the healthiest budgets anyone could ask for. I ask the trustees to find a government with a higher percentage of wealth and reserve.
CPA’s, financial firms, lenders will encourage a government entity (town, city, county, state) to keep 35% of their budget in reserve for that bridge that washes out or any other emergency that might happen. Westcliffe has for years maintained much more than that percentage. Currently, they have over 50% of their budget in reserve. Many communities have dipped into their reserves because of economic hard times. Westcliffe has not and can brag about their wealth.
When I was elected as a trustee, the town trustees were looked upon as King Midas, hoarding their gold. The town had over 300 percent of their budget in reserve. Back then, the annual budget was just under $300,000 a year, with over a $1,000,000 in reserve. A trustee at the time, suggested the trustees start reinvesting your tax dollars back into observable improvements. Discussion followed with the trustees deciding to improve Main Street with new curbs, sidewalks and streetlights. I said [that]I had no objection to this plan, but I asked shouldn’t we allow the citizens to decide how to spend THEIR MONEY? What if they wanted to improve their streets? In less than 10 seconds the other trustees said NO!
How do they figure this 50% tax increase will only cost the citizens $3.50 a month? They say we estimate this 50% tax increase will generate an additional $204,000 annually. Let us see their math for that one! Speaking of their math…in their published handout asking for the tax increase they state chip seal cost approximately $5,000 per block. Truthfully, they paid $23,173 for eight blocks of chip seal. That comes to $2,896.62 per block. Apparently, math isn’t their strong point.
What do they expect to do with your new tax dollars? “We don’t have a plan” was their answer when I asked at their special town meeting held on September 4th. Well, let’s look at what they have done in the past with your tax dollars. They just bought for themselves a new townhall, the old bank building for an undisclosed amount. Your tax dollars paid for it plus we lost the 29% property tax the property owner would pay.
Another financial decision this year was the consideration to change the Town of Westcliffe Town Hall sign. Mayor Wenke said there were a few board members that didn’t care for the new sign and want to change it to be like the sign (blue) C.A.R.T. did for the two towns. To change the new (current) sign would be at a greater cost. The new (current) sign cost $1,700 and a sign like the blue one would cost $2,000 or more. Uh, that is $3,700 for signs! An additional $2,00 plus for another sign because some trustees don’t like the new one! Who approved the first sign?
Same meeting the board agreed to replace their laptops with chrome books for the Board of Trustees and Planning Commission. No costs given!
From the May 7th regular town meeting they approved a bid for purchasing and installing blinds at 1000 Main St. for $2,407.56.
Same meeting the board approved purchasing new security cameras. The original bid with tax was $6,878.25. The board wanted an extra camera and antenna which brought the cost up to $8,147.75.
Let’s talk about the dollar stores! The story on the street goes that the town did not want any more chain stores within the town limits. The piece of land for Family Dollar was in both towns, so the Town of Westcliffe gave their land to Silver Cliff. As vacant land the taxes were probably around $300/year. Now, Family Dollar pays over $12,000 property tax to the Town of Silver Cliff. The Dollar General store was in Westcliffe with taxes for the vacant land just over $300 a year. Now, Dollar General is in Silver Cliff. Did we give more land to Silver Cliff? I’m sure they pay as much property tax if not more than the Family Dollar.
Listening to our Mayor, Paul Wenke, during an interview with KLZR radio, he was asked what is one of the most important expenditures the board should consider. Broadband was his answer. OK, what is the plan, how much will it cost, and do we need it? This will serve very few people with everyone’s tax dollars to pay for it. I can’t imagine they don’t have more than enough of your tax dollars in reserve (and still maintain a healthy
reserve) to pay for broadband without increasing your taxes. (And why are they paying for it?)
Currently, their budget is over $500,000 annually. That is almost twice the revenue from when I was a trustee. We lived within our budget. What do we need that we can’t afford now? With every new home constructed they receive about three times the property tax as what the vacant land property owner paid.
At the meeting I mentioned if they want to ask for your tax dollars it would be a good idea to tell the public what they intend to use that money for. They didn’t have a plan but said they would put something together.
Expect after reading this they will have a plan. Just
remember, they didn’t have one when they asked for a 50% increase in your taxes.
Without a public plan it appears they lack fiscal responsibility. I wish they had a plan I could support. We could discuss the pros and cons of their desires. We know why Round Mountain Water & Sanitation District increased your taxes. We know why Custer County School increased your
taxes. The town doesn’t have a need according to the discussion at their special meeting held on September 4th…ONLY THEY WANT IT!
Don’t be apathetic! VOTE.

Editor:  The Town of Westcliffe published their budget two weeks after this letter was in the paper. See the information here. Town of Westcliffe 101119