Grand Plan Community Meeting No. 2

The Community Meeting was designed to provide input through electronic polling regarding levels of support for each proposed project in light of needs for new revenues.

Community Meeting Supports Projects

Approximately 85 citizens participated in Decision Time! during the Community Meeting No. 2 to create Limon’s Grand Plan on Thursday, June 15th at the Warren Mitchell Events Center at Limon Public Schools. These citizens strongly supported a truly GRAND Plan.

Mayor Julie Coonts welcomed the crowd and provided an overview of how the project list was developed from the Comprehensive Plan Update and the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design. Coonts pointed to the opportunity created by the offer of the statewide grant funders group to consider supporting a Limon Grand Plan with grant funding.

Dave Stone, Town Manager, then described the need for additional revenue to construct and operate these projects. Polling indicated 62% of the participants that they spent less than $750 a month in taxable retail sales in Limon. It was pointed out that the monthly cost of increasing the Limon sales tax rate by 1%, from 2% to 3%, would add $7.50 on monthly expenditures of $750. 90% of Limon’s total sales tax revenues are estimated to come from the visitors that use Limon’s services.

Each participant was given the opportunity to express their level of support for new revenues to support nineteen core projects and several combination projects. Options provided were Highly Support, Support, Consider Supporting and Oppose. After each of the core projects were considered, several combination projects like combining a Recreation Center with an outdoor or indoor pool were considered.

The top five supported projects included Outdoor Pool & Bathhouse, Wayfaring Signage, South Limon Park Improvements, Community Building Addition, and Softball Fields Improvements. See the complete listing of prioritized projects showing a running balance of needed new revenue for implementation, operation and maintenance and the additional percentage of sales tax rate required to add each additional project going down the listing. For example, moving the Limon sales tax rate from 2% to 2.75% would allow the first eleven projects to be included in the Grand Plan.

Next, the participants were asked, “Based on the Priority List, what increase in Sales Tax Rate would you support?” 36% indicated that they would support an increase of more than 1%. An additional 41% indicated support for a 1% rate increase from 2% to 3%. 11% supported a .75% increase leaving 12% supporting less.

With the significant support for 1% or more of a rate increase, the audience was again polled to indicate their support of a 1.5% increase from the current rate of 2% to 3.5% and 74% indicated Yes, 13% Maybe and 13% Opposing that level of increase. At an increase of 1.5%, additional projects including a recreation center could be added to the Grand Plan list.

Manager Stone pointed out throughout the presentation that the final project listing with be made after receiving feedback from the statewide grant funding group and that any bonding and sales tax increase could only come through an election. The Town will continue to refine the project listing and costs through additional community engagement and preliminary design, prepare the presentation for the statewide funding group, and begin developing grant applications.

Ultimately there will be a final project listing and ballot questions developed for an election in April or November of 2018.

If you have questions about the results or next steps please call Dave Stone, Town Manager, or Joe Kiely, Assistant Town Manager at 719-775-2346.