ANOTHER TAX??? WHY - WITH THESE BUDGET NUMBERS???
WE FOUND…
$14,650,485
IN PROPOSED BUDGET INCREASES
THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED FOR REDUCTIONS IN COUNTY DEPARTMENTS IN 2024 TO GET “The Heart of the Community” BACK TO HER FORMER SELF!
You will find our Budget Study below.
This Tuesday, 12/12 will be our last chance to address the Commissioners before they adopt the budget. Gilpin County has a $20 MILLION Reserve Fund to fix what’s broken, etc., so why are we being bullied into additional taxes? It just doesn’t make sense!
We asked the Commissioners to keep the rec center open the same days we have now (5), at least until we get this budget on track. Instead, they are insisting on reducing service one day a week! (It’s better than the three days/no pools for all of 2024 the entire community was being threatened with since June, BUT NOT NECESSARY)!
I learned directly from Commissioners Hollingsworth and Berumen they got the wrong message from the 1A results. They are spinning the result to tell people the voters defeating the new tax don’t support the Rec Center! No kidding! We have the video. I tried to get them to understand we didn’t support a NEW, FOREVER TAX (to pay for the rec center). We want MORE use of the center, for all people, all days and paid out of our HEALTHY GENERAL FUND.
I asked those same Commissioners if they would be willing to hold a community meeting before they ADOPT the budget so the PEOPLE can say what THEY want their money to support! The answer was “no.” Commissioner Hollingsworth said they are the elected officials and they have heard from the people, and they make the decisions. I told her that “We are the Citizens, higher even than the elected officials, and we should have a say about how the budget is spent.”
WE NEED YOUR HELP! If you have anything to say to the Commissioners, please attend the meeting on Tuesday, arrive by 9, and sign the speaker’s list on the Commissioners’ table. If you would prefer to attend and sit or stand in the room to show your support for the PEOPLE, it surely would send a message. You can also attend via the Zoom link on the gilpincounty.org website under “Commissioner Meetings.”
(Tinyurl.com/
The Gilpin County 2024 Budget will be officially adopted the following Tuesday, December 19, at 9 a.m. in Central City at the Historic Courthouse.
Since the 12/1 Budget Workshop where we received the Proposed Budget, we have worked more than 12 hours a day to share this information with you all…We went through every line item looking for outrageous increases in proposed spending, showing you the comparisons between 2022 or 2023 to the proposed increases in 2024. I met with the County Manager, Ray Rears, this week. He asked me to tell our Members regarding the Capital Outlays (which look crazy)…”Capital Outlay items were reflected in the ‘Facilities Department’ in 2023, but this year, they are reflected in the individual departments.” Therefore, each department’s “Capital Outlay” increased significantly. Check out some of the items that are NOT capital outlay increases being proposed, as well. The numbers are real! Some are abated with grants, but we pay for those, too!
We found plenty of items that might possibly be split up (or cancelled altogether) with future budgets so more money could go into the repairs of the rec center building, and make it more user friendly for all Gilpin residents.
The most egregious increases are those we listed - there are more. We included some in each affected department. There will be plenty of excuses as to why the budget increases are necessary, and we are sure there are plenty that are extremely necessary, but this much? And all now?!?
We added them all up, and it is shockingly obvious we have enough money to repair the rec center building, open it seven days a week for use before and after work and no pool closures during four hours every Monday through Thursday!
Take a peek and see what you think. Then, please contact the commissioners and see if they will make these changes NOW! At least keep the center open five days - until we move money around (of which they are experts) TO MAKE THE REC CENTER A PRIORITY!
This county has their hand out for funding from State and Federal agencies constantly. We pay people to search out grants from everywhere - most with matching funds provided by you and me. It doesn’t seem to enter their minds that our country is $33 TRILLION in debt. We can see why. (Tap each page to read easier!)
We are a wealthy county, but we have to be careful how our money is spent (like we do at home) and support the things the PEOPLE want! Do we want to spend $1.5 MILLION on a new food pantry?(It is open one day a week for three hours.) They will be pushing that agenda forward this Tuesday, as well! We ask you to speak out, if you care about these things. It’s time for the people to be informed, and courageous. So many of us never know what happened, and when…until it’s done! If you’d like to report an issue to be shared, feel free to write us at thegilpinlight@gmail.comFor instance, another thing I witnessed was like a shell game. Commissioner Hollingsworth was brainstorming a way to get funds from the Housing Authority or the Lodging Tax to pay for the East Portal Cabin project! Whether you like the idea or not, that $50,000 could help the rec center, which serves all ages, all needs. Nobody will be living in those cabins - legally! The $50,000 is a drop in the bucket of that project’s ultimate cost. We are fighting for the rec center, and they are making this a priority? Maybe you disagree, and you have that right. But at least the PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW, and have a say!
At Monday’s meeting, (12/2), both Commissioners Hollingsworth and Berumen spoke with conviction that we will have to go for ANOTHER MILL LEVY IN 2024, if we want a rec center. Yep - already, they are planning to try another route to put the expense of the rec center right onto the taxpayers, instead of paying with the General Fund!
Why should a person who NEVER uses the rec center have an ADDITIONAL TAX levied on their property for the rec center? That just isn’t right!
Thank you all for reading and responding to this Study. We hope to see you on Tuesday, or that you will send your opinions/requests to our Board of Commissioners before Tuesday (link below). They may listen and make changes. It is their last opportunity to do so. We sure hope they do!
Donna Okray Parman
Founder, The Gilpin Light
Sandy Hollingsworth extension - 11103
Susan Berumen extension - 11102
