Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Budgeting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge protecting EMS, exploring visitor taxes in Manitou Springs budget review
Summary
A consultant told the council that community budget engagement found broad support for protecting fire, EMS and police staffing and interest in shifting more costs to visitors via lodging or amusement taxes; residents also proposed nonresident fees, vacancy taxes and partnerships to support the pool and neighborhood needs.
Consultant Barrick Abramson told the Manitou Springs City Council on July 7 that two in-person budget engagement sessions and a 500-response community survey showed residents prioritize protecting public safety staffing and favor asking visitors to shoulder more of the costs of services.
"Fire, EMS, and police should be protected as is," Abramson said, summarizing the strongest message from participants. He said residents reacted strongly when staff showed that bringing EMS in house could cut response times from 10–40 minutes under a contracted provider to 3–10 minutes in-house; one participant recounted a two-minute response that they said saved a family member's life.
The consultant framed the in-person sessions as complementary to the survey: the survey provided breadth, while table discussions produced ‘‘depth’’ and detailed tradeoffs. Abramson said residents accepted that some departments are already lean and that incremental reductions alone would not close structural budget gaps. "The city could not close this gap through reductions alone," he said.
Participants prioritized parks, recreation and public services and offered several revenue ideas targeted at visitors and special events: modest increases in the lodging tax (currently presented in the report as about 11%), revisiting the amusement tax (about 5% and unchanged since 1973), a nonresident incline fee (suggested around $5), taxes on private commercial parking or special-event admission fees, and a vacancy tax on long-empty storefronts. Abramson said some residents flagged that city ordinance currently directs lodging-tax revenue to economic development and suggested the council could revisit that ordinance.
Council member Gloria Latimer asked whether lodging-tax allocation is mandated by state law or set by city ordinance; Abramson replied it is determined by city ordinance and thus within council authority to reconsider.
Council members and staff noted operational questions raised in the sessions: police recruitment (the department is budgeted for 17 sworn officers and has 14 on staff), the pool's financial model and options such as partnerships with local schools or nonprofits, and whether parking revenue could help pool operations. Abramson also flagged potential timing constraints: the report notes ongoing litigation (described in the engagement materials as 'COB litigation') could affect the timing and design of some revenue measures.
Mayor Pro Tem Judith Chandler praised the consultant's work as thorough and useful for informed policymaking. The consultant's full written report, which includes verbatim workshop responses and a comparison with the survey results, was submitted to the city for council and public review.
The council did not take immediate budget votes at the meeting; the presentation concluded with an offer from the consultant to answer follow-up questions and with staff direction to continue review and public discussion.
