City councillors concerned about competing ballot proposals are eyeing April vote instead

The Durango City Council has decided to schedule the April municipal election for a vote on reinstating the 2005 sales tax. If approved, it would extend the half-cent sales tax for 30 years and fund renovations of the former Durango School District 9-R administration building at 201 E. 12th St. The building and the former Big Picture High School building next door would become a new city hall and police station, respectively. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file)

The question of whether to renew the city of Durango’s sales tax for 2005 will not appear on residents’ ballots this November.

Instead, the wording of the ballot paper will be refined and possibly presented to voters in the local elections in April 2025.

The Durango City Council unanimously approved the new plan with a vote of 4:0.

Durango residents and former mayors spoke out Tuesday against putting the sales tax issue on the November ballot. Renewing or reauthorizing the sales tax, if approved, would fund construction of a new city hall and police station.

They said the La Plata County lodging tax approval and potential Durango School District 9-R bond ballot questions would compete for attention only with the city’s sales tax issue.

Residents supported a required review by the Durango Financial Advisory Board or other resident-led city board or commission, but it is not currently required.

Residents and councilors also condemned misinformation and disinformation circulating on social media, which falsely claimed that the sales tax issue would propose a tax increase and/or would direct funds to the city’s controversial Downtown’s Next Step project.

Mayor Jessika Buell said voters were not being asked to raise the sales tax for 2005 – the half-cent rate would remain the same – and that it had nothing to do with funding Next Step.

Councilman Dave Woodruff said rescheduling the 2005 sales tax question for the April election would give the city and council more time to clear up misconceptions and misinformation about the proposal.

“We are currently conducting a fairly large disinformation campaign in which members of our community are making inaccurate and blatantly false statements about the reinstatement of the sales tax in 2005,” he said.

Former Mayor Sweetie Marbury, who made several public comments during the meeting, tearfully said she knew what it was like to have an election voted down over a tax issue. And she knew, in turn, what it was like to abandon the police department, which was housed in a “leaky shoebox” and has needed a new headquarters for decades.

She said she was hurt when a joint referendum on sales and property taxes was rejected by voters in 2018. Had the referendum passed, it would have enabled funding for a new police station in addition to the road and sidewalk construction projects.

“You don’t want to feel that kind of pain,” she said. “You don’t want to have to face the men in the lobby and the men in the back and the men and women who serve us.”

Marbury and Dick White, another former Durango mayor, urged the City Council to move the sales tax issue to next April’s municipal election. That would give the community more time to familiarize itself with the proposal and avoid competition with other election issues in the fall, they said.

White said the 2005 sales tax served the community well by enabling the development of “first-class recreational facilities” and the acquisition of large open spaces for public use.

He said Durango Mesa Park represents another great opportunity with significant costs that could be mitigated with the help of the sales tax.

But more importantly, the city’s existing parks, open spaces and trails won’t sustain themselves. They need to be maintained, he said.

He said Durango deserves an expanded sales tax that has been reviewed by a resident-led board or commission.

White also supported a new city hall with central offices for city departments and a new police department to replace the existing building “that our long-suffering police officers have used and endured for nearly 40 years.”

The city’s successful purchase of the historic former high school at 201 E. 12th St. was a “win-win situation” in the face of a “previously insurmountable facility challenge,” he said.

But the city needs oversight, he said. He is disappointed that the city finalized the 2005 sales tax ballot text “almost at the last minute” and without consulting the Finance Advisory Board. The city previously received recommendations from various advisory boards, such as the former Durango Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, until those were disbanded and replaced.

Project and repayment costs

Durango and Three Springs resident Rick Cobb said he wants to hear more about the expected sales tax revenue and bonds raised to renovate the historic former high school and Big Picture buildings, as well as how much revenue will be used to maintain parks and trails.

“I like that the 50% of the tax that is to be used for parks, open space, trails, etc. is listed first because I think that helps sell this tax,” he said.

He asked for an explanation of the planned renovation costs of $61 million for a new city hall and police station, as well as the repayment costs of $123 million.

City Manager José Madrigal responded to another similar written comment from resident John Simpson, saying: The Durango Herald In an email sent on Wednesday, the repayment costs are stated taking into account compound interest.

“When you finance something, whether it’s a car or a mortgage, you pay compound interest, which makes the repayment more than the amount borrowed,” he said. “We have a repayment plan that we developed with the help of our financial advisors, based on a $61 million bond over 30 years at 4.75%, with the flexibility option if the city council chooses to pay interest only for two years.”

Buell said rescheduling the ballot question to April 2025 will give city councilors more time to review the proposal, answer citizen questions and concerns, and clear up misinformation.

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