If you ever need a textbook example of how small-town local government should NOT work, look no further than August 2022 right here in Manitou Springs.
Tuesday night at Memorial Hall, the Manitou Springs City Council put the final touch on this chaotic month, voting to cut off sales tax funding to the Manitou Springs Urban Renewal Authority.
The 4-3 decision, so clearly pre-orchestrated, did not have to happen so quickly and so vindictively. There was no immediate deadline looming, no reason to schedule a special meeting with nothing else on the agenda.
Just a few weeks ago, a group of determined councilors thought they would have to go through a November ballot issue to achieve their desired outcome. After learning differently, they changed their plan to a surgical strike and pulled it off in a combined council-URA meeting that started out as an executive session and then was made public, allowing for immediate action.
This is a difficult subject to tackle in print, because so many people know so little about the Urban Renewal Authority. Let’s try for a quick explanation.
In simple terms, a URA is created to focus on economic development and revitalization in a specific, often blighted, area of a city. URAs are funded by sales tax revenue within that area, as has been the case since 2006 for Manitou’s URA, located between the eastern gateway arch and the U.S. Highway 24 interchange.
Certainly, the URA hit the jackpot when recreational marijuana sales won approval in Manitou, with El Paso County’s only stores located within the URA’s boundaries. Suddenly, that tax revenue became a bonanza, now bringing about $1.7 million a year to the URA.
Anyone can see how that money has largely been spent, from the new Beckers Lane Bridge to helping fund the county-led project to improve Manitou Avenue/Colorado Avenue. Residents and visitors also have noticed and appreciated the holiday lights, public art and other enhancements.
But then some on City Council became frustrated — understandably so — because they faced such a hefty list of capital needs with insufficient funds (about $2.6 million currently) while the URA built a comparable amount in its own bank account.
The best solution seemed obvious: City Council and the URA board could work out a new agreement, giving a larger share of sales tax revenue to the city but still allowing the URA to pursue its mission.
Instead, four City Councilors wanted to take all URA sales tax funding. Until the city attorney recently advised otherwise, those councilors seemed hellbent on eliminating the URA altogether.
That didn’t happen, but council’s 4-3 vote did chop off the URA’s legs. And the timing couldn’t be worse, just as the URA is finalizing a deal — in the works for almost a year — with a developer to buy the dilapidated La Fun motel property and revitalize it for business purposes.
Fearing it might be abolished and existing funds taken away, the URA board hastily signed that agreement for the La Fun, with closing set for next week. If all goes well, it could lead to some kind of grocery (Natural Grocers or similar) and restaurants, all of which would provide fresh sources of tax revenue at a time when most marijuana taxes might be going away.
Now, though, the URA board won’t have more funds to help entice such businesses, which is why a middle-ground strategy would have made more sense.
Instead, some on City Council thought a better use of the La Fun property would be as a parking lot to benefit downtown, the Cog and the Manitou Incline. Nobody seemed to realize how many months such a lot would sit empty — unused, unproductive and unappealing.
Whereas retail businesses would operate year-round for the benefit of Manitou residents.
It was as if someone had enacted a moratorium on common sense judgment. As one URA board member said after the Tuesday vote, “It was like watching a train wreck and knowing there was absolutely nothing logical or reasonable that might sway them. It was stunning.”
Never mind that the URA board includes some of Manitou’s most influential, qualified people of the past generation, including two former mayors and the owner of a prominent local small business: Marcy Morrison, state Rep. Marc Snyder, Farley McDonough (Adam’s Mountain Café), Ann Nichols, Barb Winter, Debra Sagen, John Maynard, Alan Gregory and Alan Delwiche.
Should such a decision have waited until November, when Colorado Springs votes whether to legalize recreational marijuana sales? Yes.
Should City Council have decided, now or in the upcoming 2023 budget process, to consider reworking its terms with the URA? Yes.
Should the majority of councilors have given more thought to the ramifications of severely undercutting their own URA? Yes.
Is there anything that Manitou Springs residents can do about it? Not now.