President's Report - Waiting for Godot
Author: Gary Myre
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
The above disclaimer, required in investment sales literature, offers up some promise after the non-performance of city council in regard to the three major issues of the budget, transportation, and Crossroads. It is also realistic advice for those who will want to rely on winning the sales tax lottery to maintain quality of life in Boulder.
During the past budget cycle, despite the promising beginning council deferred acting on the best opportunities to begin to bring spending under control. These were combining Parks and Open Space, revisiting the Transportation Master Plan (TMP), and replacing the Public Safety Sales Tax.
The TMP, for example, is short of funding by $24 million annually. A 20% overall increase in the city's budget is needed to fund it - a ludicrous proposition - yet it still drives transportation funding today. As for the public safety tax, council suggests waiting three or four years to see what additional sales tax revenues a redeveloped and revitalized Crossroads brings.
Is this a turn around from last year's rezoning effort? That effort was premised on the assumption that non-residential growth, no matter what type or quality, creates impacts that outweigh any benefits to the city or its residents. At no time during council's rezoning discussions was it mentioned that, for every 1,000 jobs, $1 million in sales and use taxes are generated annually - with considerably less need for police, fire, libraries, parks, etc. than residential properties impose.
If "Growth", indeed, "has not paid its own way," then why is the Crossroads discussion even occurring? And why is council willing to consider as much as an additional 400,000 square feet of office space and public subsidy as options for the proposed project?
Like any urban renewal project, the problems that created the Crossroads dilemma in the first place must be solved. The first is transportation. You have to get there. The second is an unfriendly attitude toward business, both real and perceived. The competitiveness of Crossroads cannot be addressed apart from addressing these issues.
The truth is, Boulder has developed an over-dependence on sales tax revenues for funding basic services and a budget based on increasing revenues from growth, while at the same time restricting growth. The consequences were inevitable, like living on credit. There was a time when 60% of all sales tax dollars were generated by county residents shopping in Boulder. This is changing, by design, as a result of Boulder's own policies. Yet no one, it seems, is willing to realistically face the consequences.
Politically, council won't want to discuss raising taxes on residents. If spending is not reduced or sales tax revenues don't increase, discussions will quickly shift to raising development fees and adopting excise taxes to keep pace with over spending.
One-time income, however, will perpetuate the problem not solve it. More permanent sources will have to be developed. If not, bringing spending and bureaucratic growth under control to more closely match our existing ability to pay and to keep Boulder competitive with other communities will be all the more critical.
"Past performance" for Boulder has been based on ever-rising sales tax revenues and the fear of unlimited growth. In reality, neither will occur. It's time to move on and make decisions today about what our future will be. What are we waiting for?
Gary Myre is past director of facilities at Valleylab, Inc. and past president of Boulder Tomorrow.
