YOUR AD HERE »

CMC board narrowly decides to sue over TIF

Susan Bacon

The Colorado Mountain College Board of Trustees will pursue a lawsuit against the city of Glenwood Springs, protesting a reallocation of the city’s property taxes.

The reallocation, called tax increment financing, could take between $3.7 million and $10 million away from the college’s property tax revenues over the next 25 years, CMC said.

It would be used by the Glenwood Springs Downtown Development Authority to improve the downtown.



The board’s narrow decision, made at a meeting last week in Steamboat Springs, does not mean that a lawsuit is inevitable.

“The college will remain open to resolving this issue up until a judicial determination,” CMC President Cynthia Heelan said.



About 60 to 70 percent of the college’s revenues come from property taxes, said Joe Marquez, CMC spokesman.

Although the city’s reallocation of tax funds would not make a big impact on the college’s annual operating budget of $32 million, Marquez said it could set a precedent that other municipalities would follow and so could further diminish the college’s revenues.

He said the lawsuit would also argue that the downtown area in question is not blighted, or rundown enough, to warrant the reallocation.

And the lawsuit would hold that the college should protect its revenue from taxes that voters have said should be used for the college to improve technology and to retain employees.

The college would have agreed to the reallocation if the diverted funds were capped but the city decided not to put a cap in place, officials said.

“While the college wants to support Glenwood’s Downtown Development Authority, we were unable to persuade city officials to put a cap on the amount of taxes they would divert from the college,” Board of Trustees Chair John Giardino said.

“Without a cap, we are in essence asking the people of the other 40-plus municipalities we serve to greatly subsidize the education needs of the population growth that will come to Glenwood Springs, and that is not fair,” he said.

The board’s decision to pursue the lawsuit was a close one, and all of the board members did not agree that legal action was the best idea.

“I think the lawsuit puts us in an adversarial position with the community, and that we as a college are there to serve the community and not be adversaries,” said Rob Dick, the college’s trustee for Routt County. “This argument is just about money and who gets the money. And my hope is that reasonable minds looking out for the best interest of the community can cooperate without legal action.”

Dick also said because the board speaks with one voice, he supported the final decision to consider a lawsuit.


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.

Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.

Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.