Taxpayer funding of jobs initiative soundly defeated

Colorado Springs voters Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to spend taxpayer money on economic development.

With nearly all the ballots counted in the city's all-mail election, Issue 1A - the so-called jobs initiative - was being defeated by about 62 percent to 38 percent. About one-third of the city's roughly 196,000 registered voters cast ballots.

The measure, placed before voters by the City Council at the request of area business leaders, would have extended a property tax that's due to expire at the end of 2009. The $3.2 million a year generated would have been used to create, attract and retain jobs at a cost of $10 a year for the owner a $200,000 home, backers estimated.

But opponents criticized the measure as too vague, and objected to the possibility it would have provided financial incentives to employers, which they labeled as "corporate welfare."

"We all want a great business climate and we all want jobs," said Sean Paige, The Gazette's former editorial-page editor who heads advocacy group Local Liberty Action.

"The question is approach. This was obviously the wrong approach. Hopefully, we'll put the idea of offering incentives to rest and we can get back to the basics."

The basics, he said, should include creating a less onerous regulatory climate, improving education and keeping taxes and utility rates low. His group and other 1A critics aren't naysayers, Paige said, but want to work with the business community on how best to attract jobs.

But as Colorado Springs shows it's unwilling to invest more money in economic development, it falls further behind other communities that aggressively do just that, said Springs accountant Jerry Biggs, who chaired the JOBS NOW Committee that promoted 1A.

He said voter resentment directed at big corporations - such as the employee bonuses given by American International Group - probably worked against the local measure.

Uncertainty over whether the city can fulfill a deal to retain the U.S. Olympic Committee headquarters might also have created a backlash, he said.

Biggs said he's not sure what should happen next. For years, the community has relied on the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp. to bring jobs to town.

"We got the message loud and clear that the next step was not taxpayer support, that it will have to be support through private industry," Biggs said. "The unfortunate part is, in these economic times, it's very difficult to raise those dollars. So it's going to be more of an effort of trying as hard as you can with what we have. We have to hope that it works."

Mayor Lionel Rivera said 1A's defeat - in spite of thousands of dollars spent to promote it - shows voters don't believe job creation should be the city's role, even though, for years, the Springs has provided limited, performance-based incentives to woo employers.

"They probably don't view that (economic development) as our primary role, as an essential city service," Rivera said.

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