- Montezuma County voters may be asked to decide on a county sales tax in the near future.
- Montezuma County attorney John Baxter and commission watchdog M.B. McAfee have heated exchange over notices of public hearings.
Montezuma County voters may be asked to decide on a county sales tax in the near future. On Monday, the commissioners seemed receptive to the idea of taking the question to the citizens. Members of the Planning and Zoning Commission told the board their ideas for economic development, which include a sales tax of up to 1 percent that could help offset a projected decline of 25 to 30 percent in revenues from carbon-dioxide production. Commissioners Larry Don Suckla and Keenan Ertel agreed it would be essential to specify exactly how the tax would be used.
Also on Monday, Montezuma County attorney John Baxter and commission watchdog M.B. McAfee had a heated exchange after she suggested the county include on its website the date that notices of public hearings were published in the newspaper. Baxter said it could “invite litigation” to do so, and questioned why anyone would want the date included unless they were planning a lawsuit. McAfee said she’d been trying to see if the notice for one proposed resolution had been published 30 days before the public hearing, as required. She said she was only trying to make a constructive suggestion for more transparency, but Baxter was adamant that posting the dates could “invite litigation.”
