President's Report

Author: Gary Myre

The more things change, the more they stay the same. That's a phrase that certainly applies in Boulder. Let's look at some recent examples:

At our May meeting, Tom Eldridge and Gordon Riggle shared the strong directives that they have given to City Council and staff regarding the development of the city budget. (Story, page 6).

The outcome - so far - is somewhat predictable. The City has brought forth politically charged, pet projects for the chopping block. The media has reported offerings like Go Boulder, the Department of Environmental Affairs, and even using the supposed savings from the merger of the Mountain Parks and Open Space Departments to help finance the redevelopment of Crossroads. Now there's a twist!

It appears they have missed the point. The Boulder Tomorrow comparative data demonstrated that Boulder spends more per capita than other communities in every category of service, whether it's Parks and Recreation, Roads and Highways, or Police. Ultimately it's not a question of "programs," it's about how the City is managed and the way it provides services. If Aurora can keep its roads going for half of what Boulder spends, we might at least examine that category. Right?

Another example is Crossroads: First, some people seem to be equating the "budget problem" with the "Crossroads problem" and are attributing the budget shortfall to declining Crossroads sales tax revenue. This is interesting, because sales tax revenue overall grew almost 4% last year. But it does serve to focus the discussion on revenues, and not spending.