Dear Editor,

As to the Mayor’s claim of how reliable gaming revenue has been, he downplays the disastrous losses incurred when the pandemic hit. See this headline from CBS News, April 17, 2020: “Study: Gilpin County May Be Hardest Hit In U.S. With 70% Of Revenue From Gaming”. This demonstrates how brittle gaming revenue can be in response to unexpected events and how “putting all your eggs in one basket” is an irresponsible fiscal policy.

Regarding the IGA with Gilpin County the Mayor has proposed, there are two assumptions one can make:

1. The City of Black Hawk’s primary interest is in protecting itself from any taxes it doesn’t control. Any claim about protecting Gilpin County and its citizens from higher taxes is self-serving. The main impact on Gilpin County is a loss of control over its own affairs. To ignore this would be to the detriment of Gilpin County residents.

2. The Mayor and City Council have identified a positive political pathway for themselves in Gilpin County via two Commissioner candidates and want to leverage it to the City’s political and financial advantage.

All the specifications in the proposed $1 million IGA are to the benefit of Black Hawk financially and limit Gilpin County’s control of its affairs in some way. The two that are most detrimental to Gilpin County are (paraphrased for readability):

• The total mill levy in Gilpin County, including the Library Mill levy, cannot exceed 10.695 mills.

• The Library mill levy is not controlled by the County so this provision cannot be fulfilled in any case. Also, what happens when there is the need for an emergency temporary tax increase? What if additional funds are needed to finish the “last mile” for broadband access? What if a wildfire or flood or any other Act of God causes damage to key County infrastructure? Adding $1 million (about 2 mills at current property assessment values) to a temporary tax increase request when the IGA is voided would make it much more difficult to pass.

• In exchange for the $1 million the Gilpin County Community Center must stay open seven days a week. Apparently the hours are negotiable but the seven days are not, though no official change has been made to the IGA offered.

• When the 2020 2.57 mill levy ($1.1 million at the time) was in effect the Community Center was open only 5 days/53 hours a week. This requirement would cost the County much more than $1 million per the calculations of the Center’s Director, resulting in a net loss to the County.

This letter was not approved by the Gilpin County Democrats, but I am the Chair of that organization.

Eric Douglas

Gilpin County