Dear Editor,

There is much gnashing of teeth in Gilpin County about whether to approve Initiative 1A which will create a permanent mill levy to fund the Gilpin County Community Center. I understand being upset about renewing the temporary mill levy in force for the last couple of years, but the truth is the Community Center funding from the County is not required by statute so it will always be the poor cousin to the departments and services that must be funded. It’s time that the citizens of the County took control of this vital service!

It may be true now that the County is flush from the latest gambling revenue distribution, but the County also has more than $20 million dollars of capital repairs and upgrades to other County property that will take precedence. According to the latest budget estimate from the County Manager and Finance Director, which assumes 1A will fail, the Community Center will be open only 3 days per week, the pool will be closed in 2024, the Fair will be cut down to one day and staffing will be cut to adjust to the new hours and operations (See Weekly Register Call, p.5, October 12, 2023, edition).

The assumption by the anti-mill levy group that the Community Center will be fully funded without the levy is not a good BET!

Also, the idea that we should go back to a funding mechanism that has been shown to be vulnerable to a crisis like a flood, a large fire, another pandemic, or something completely unexpected makes no sense. Why build a house on sand after the last house slid into the sea?

Sincerely,

Eric Douglas

Gilpin County