By William J. Dagendesh
Manitou Springs City Council voted 7-0 to approve submittal of the proposed FY 2023 budget during a special work session on Oct. 11.
According to Finance Officer Rebecca Davis, state law requires the budget officer to submit a proposed budget to the governing body, which must then publish notice of the budget by Oct. 15. The presentation was held to satisfy state law, Davis said.
“On Oct. 1, City Council and staff had its annual retreat. The fund balance for the general operating fund was projected to be $6,689,712.00,” Davis said. “That was for the recommended budget, assuming Colorado Springs approves retail marijuana in November, that there are no cuts, and that the mobility and parking enterprise fund remains a separate fund.”
Davis said the summary of the general fund has been updated to reflect changes that are not in this budget, but will be included at the first reading scheduled for Nov. 15. “These changes will reduce the ending fund balance by $212,000 to $6,477,712,” Davis said.
According to Davis, she calculated the Cog Railway payment for 2023 and that the estimate for that comes to about $600,000.
Councilor Julie Wolfe asked if the $600,000 is included in the revised budget. Davis said the city attorney advised that notes about the revenue should be included that refer to the amusement tax, also known as the excise tax.
“Since this is a refund of that, we just budget for what we believe we’re going to be able to keep. It’s not actually in there, but it’s by omission. I included the contract with those notes, and while they’re currently not in this budget, it will be included by the first reading and I plan to have that contract in here,” Davis said.
However, Wolfe wanted to know if the proposed budget indicated that City Council has appropriated the full amount it’s allowed to under that contract. Davis said yes.
“I believe council is required to vote and make a decision under the contract. And, pursuant to the court order that was entered on the lawsuit regarding the contract, I believe we need to have a vote and decide whether we’re appropriating all of that money back to the Cog, or some of it or what percent,” Wolfe said.
“I believe that is our obligation, so I would like to see some discussion about that before the second reading of the budget so we can have an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons, and perhaps talk about other possible things we might want to use that money for,” Wolfe added.
The city will host a community meeting Oct. 26 with a second reading tentatively scheduled for Dec. 6.
Later, House District 18 Rep. Marc Snyder provided a legislative update preceded by a brief background on the city’s growth since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With re-districting last year, we fought hard to make sure Manitou Springs stays in House District 18. It’s now a north-south district, whereas before it was an east-west,” Snyder said.
“Now it goes from Garden of the Gods, the entire western part of El Paso County west of I-25 all the way down to Broadmoor Bluffs and South Academy. But really, it goes all the way down (Highway) 115 almost to the Fremont County line and then all the way west to the Teller County line.”
Snyder said it has been a pleasure serving in the House of Representatives. The former Manitou mayor was elected in 2019.
“The last session in 2022 began and ended on time. That was a great sign, so there have been a lot of systemic changes in all aspects of most of our lives,” Snyder said.
“It has been a tumultuous time for all of us, the last four years. I guess 2019 was a normal year, but it has been anything but normal. We had to make radical changes to how we did business. We added a remote component, took about a 10-week break in 2020 and about a seven-week break in 2021,” he continued.
“The first two years, 2020 and 2021, we were dominated by bills to address the negative consequences of the COVID virus, not just from a health perspective, but a business perspective. We remember when our favorite restaurants were at limited hours, no indoor seating. I’m glad we’re through most of the worst of that.”
Snyder said residents would be remiss if they don’t believe that people are still contracting and dying from COVID-19.
“But, I think we’ve gotten on and learned how to get through it with our lives. I think it would be wrong to not remember there is still a risk out there,” Snyder said.
He said the budget principles that apply to Manitou Springs are the same ones that apply at the state level, but with a lot more zeros.
“I know the ballot measure in Colorado Springs will have a big impact on how you move forward. All the federal stimulus funds, all the billions of dollars that flowed through have been accounted for. … In a very real sense, we’re looking at a similar situation that you may be facing here less than a month from now,” Snyder said.