“Affordable housing starts with affordable property taxes,” said Glenwood Springs resident Craig Amichaux at Monday’s regular meeting. Amichaux spoke to the commissioners (BOCC) ahead of the agenda, starting with price increases over the last few years. “Twenty-four percent increase in electricity, 24% increase in lunch meat, 33% in flour, 48% increase on gasoline, and first quarter real wages are down 4.3%,” he said, acknowledging that the BOCC does not control inflation. “But, you do control the county budget,” he added. “You do control the mill levy and you do control the taxes.” Amichaux explained that, according to his recent Garfield County property tax assessment, he owes $44,000 for one property, up from $18,000. “That’s a 230% increase,” he exclaimed. “Please do something.”
Commission Chair John Martin told Amichaux that the county mill levy is 13.66. “That’s all we control,” he explained. “The rest of the mill levies are controlled by the special districts — 66% of that is the school districts and we don’t control school districts.” Martin added that the BOCC asked Colorado Mountain College to consider reducing the overall mill levies “so that your taxes remain the same overall in reference to collection.” He invited Amichaux to Tuesday’s BOCC work session, which included discussion about the property tax process and the temporary mill levy credit option for Garfield County.
Amichaux mentioned that the tax on property he owns in another (unspecified) county, which has a paved driveway, curb, gutters, fiber optics and utilities, is $266. He compared that to a vacant, unimproved property he owns in Glenwood Springs, assessed at $4,800. “We don’t want to be Los Angeles County here,” he said.
Before moving on to agenda items, Martin said that 800 property tax protests had been filed with the county assessor’s office by the end of last week. Jim Yellico, county assessor, told The Sopris Sun that those numbers jumped to a little over 900 by Tuesday. The deadline for appeals is Thursday, June 8.
The BOCC approved a letter to the USFS about the proposed Thompson Divide Withdrawal, highlighting that the proposed withdrawal does not include methane capture, a key reason behind their support for the CORE Act. The letter requests that this be replaced in any decision made about the withdrawal.
After approving a liquor license for Glenwood Canyon Resort, the Board began a discussion with Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario and administrative commander Cathay Dalla about a supplemental budget request for $318,075 for inmate medical, mental health and withdrawal services for the next six months. Vallario explained that the current provider’s contract is up on June 30 and that a new provider, CorrHealth, has been chosen. But, he added, “We have to have the funds before we can award the contract.” Vallario said that the supplement request is to “augment the difference for the remaining six months of the year.” The BOCC approved the request and went on to approve most of the consent agenda before returning to a discussion about the CorrHealth selection process.
Vallario and Dalla reviewed inmate health cost increases, including nursing and insurance. Dalla said that what the county budgeted for this year and what came from state grants totaled $1.7 million, up $636,000 from 2022. But, services so far this year have cost over $2.3 million. Ultimately, the Board approved CorrHealth’s contract for $2,342,760, which will be included in next year’s budget.
The BOCC also heard detailed updates on the county’s oil and natural gas scene from industry liaison Kirby Wynn and on the state of the Colorado River from Lindsay DeFrates and Melissa Wills of the Colorado River Water District.
Wynn reported three active natural gas rigs in the county. Laramie Energy and Chevron want to drill later this year. Public complaints have decreased at Energy Advisory Board meetings, which Wynn said may be due to a decrease in drilling as well as better practices by industry. Based on survey results, April’s Energy and Environment Symposium was a success. Garfield County and the Western & Rural Local Governments Coalition continue to work on state rulemakings. Wynn also mentioned, among other things, that the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is now the Energy and Carbon Management Commission, and has regulatory authority over deep geothermal and underground natural gas storage.
DeFrates’ presentation included the Colorado River crisis, cutbacks and the complexities of water use agreements among the Upper and Lower Basin states, and how water managers around the West have set their sights on reducing water loss from evaporation and transit.