By the time you read this, the state Legislature will have been in session for three weeks, and who knows what mischief will already have been wreaked upon us?
Going into the new year, it appeared that this would be one of the most partisan, acrimonious and divisive sessions in recent memory. With all the political fallout of recent days, however, several elements have changed.
 
Will they change the tenor of the session?
First, Senator Josh Penry, up-and-coming State Senator from Grand Junction, was on the stump challenging Scott McGinnis for the right to represent the Republicans in the Governor’s race against Governor Bill Ritter. Every other word was to challenge and expose the current administration, and it was clear that the session was going to be a primary battleground in the Governor’s race.

Then Senator Penry dropped out of the Governor’s race, and later announced that he was not going to run for reelection to his Senate seat next fall. Next, Governor Ritter announced that he would not run for reelection…Do these developments remove the air of competitiveness, and settle some of the troubled political waters? Sadly, we think there will be plenty of partisanship anyway, with the Democrats trying to grapple with the third year of the third budget crisis in recent years, and the Republicans pointing out how badly we are doing it.

The budget looks to be the root of most of the attention this year, and until the issues of funding state government are laid to rest, nobody will be laid to rest—we mean, be able to rest!

Issues for Special Districts:
One of the recurring issues will be revising Tax Increment Financing (TIF) laws, to provide for more access and fairness for counties and special districts as TIF districts are formed. The TIF mechanism is becoming increasingly popular as municipalities use this method to finance redevelopment, and in many cases, development. Historically, TIF financing was used as part of urban renewal, in classically blighted areas within cities, with little or no impact on special districts. In recent years, however, municipalities in their quest to capture sales tax revenue by putting up as many “big box” stores as possible, are using urban renewal and TIF financing in areas of new development, that can in no way be considered “blighted”.

This is all done with property tax revenue that would normally go to the fire district, or water district, to provide vital services in the developing area.

Legislation will be debated to give not only special districts, but counties and school districts more access to the process, and possibly to get a fair share of the tax revenue as such projects develop.

There are several other issues, such as prompt pay in construction contracts, and election “clean-up”, that are traditional issues, and we will face them in one form or another again this year. As far as brand new challenges, time will tell, and we will keep the SDA membership well informed as these challenges come up.