Proposed tax would fund 9 new buildings

A proposed 1 percent sales tax in El Paso County would pay for nine new government buildings and pour tens of millions of dollars annually into law enforcement and public health.

Advocates for the tax increase presented their plan Monday to the El Paso County commissioners and the Colorado Springs City Council, saying the city and county don't have the cash to fight rising crime and disease.

"As a community, we have a problem," government activist Jan Doran told the county commissioners, citing the recent increase in reported rapes and murders in Colorado Springs.

"These are all very, very real, and they're very alarming," she said.

Voters will likely decide on the proposal in November. Adding 1 percentage point would bring the total sales tax rate in Colorado Springs to 8.4 percent, with the rates varying in other parts of the county.

Among key details of the plan, which has been under consideration for more than a year by Citizens for Effective Government: 

• It would raise an estimated $72 million in the first year. 

• Twelve and a half percent would go to building projects and the rest to operating expenses. The first and biggest building project would be a new county jail with more than 700 maximum- and medium-security beds, at a cost of $75.5 million. El Paso County is still paying back the $38 million it borrowed to build an 864-bed expansion to the Criminal Justice Center on East Las Vegas Street, which opened in 2005. Other building projects include a $26 million facility for Sheriff's Office operations and training and the county coroner, and a $10.5 million building to house the county's emer- gency operations, which would be shared with the city. 

• Part of the sales tax would be eliminated after the government completes an estimated $153 million in building projects.

• Of the money dedicated to operating expenses, the biggest chunk - an estimated $21.6 million - would go to Colorado Springs for its police and fire departments. Advocates said the money would pay for a new computer system, radios and 85 to 95 more police officers, which now are available only 41 percent of the time for high-priority calls. They told City Council the money also would build and staff more fire stations, reducing the department's response times.

Other chunks would go toward running the new jail, bolstering the county health department and the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

The county commissioners will decide whether to put the measure on the November ballot after a June 27 meeting with the Springs City Council and other cities in the county that would get a share of the revenue.

Although no vote was taken, council members on Monday generally favored the measure, although they had concerns about local merchants and the risk of economic slumps.

Councilman Randy Purvis noted if the city proposed its own 1 percent sales tax, it would receive $63 million a year. The county's measure would provide the city with $23.4 million, although city residents would benefit from a new jail.

Councilman Darryl Glenn was skeptical of the county plan. "I personally don't think we've earned the right to ask for additional revenue," he said, calling instead for consolidation of more city and county services.

The county commissioners have said they'll have to dramatically cut spending in 2009 unless they get more revenue. On Monday, they unanimously gave final approval to $9.1 million in cuts to the 2008 budget, including slices to the Sheriff's Office and the Department of Health and Environment.