Clear Creek County debates ESGID mill-levy, countywide sales tax and lodging tax to shore up fire, EMS and sheriff funding

Clear Creek County elected officials and municipal partners reviewed funding options on June 16 to address multi-million-dollar shortfalls affecting fire, EMS and county general fund services, and they discussed a timeline that would require action on ballot language and clerk notifications by July 1.

Bill Ray, the consultant who presented survey results and scenarios, described three principal options discussed at the meeting: (1) an Emergency Services General Improvement District (ESGID) mill-levy increase that would primarily affect unincorporated property owners in the fire-authority district; (2) a countywide public-safety sales tax intended to raise county general-fund revenues for sheriff, EMS and other services; and (3) a lodging tax enabled by a recently signed state bill (meeting participants said the governor signed a bill on May 15) that could be dedicated to public-safety or tourism management…