The forum will be held on March 13 at 7:30 AM until 9:00 AM. The location is 4700 Castleton Way, in a property listed by NavPoint Real Estate Group, one of the sponsors of the forum. The property is downstairs, using the west entrance adjacent to Arapahoe Community College. In preparation for the forum, I was asked to answer three questions. Following is one of those questions.
Given the current difficult economic environment, if elected are you in favor of raising taxes or fees or cutting expenses (services) to ensure the Town's fiscal responsibility?
As a
performance auditor, I have consistently seen opportunities to improve the
value that taxpayers receive from their government through efficiencies that
save money. My first priority as a Town Councilman will be to find ways to save
taxpayer money by increasing the value that we extract from current services.
Once these methods are exhausted, I would look equally to evaluating services to
be cut and to raising fees (rather than taxes). Every Town service aids some
important constituency, but during difficult economic times we must sacrifice
to make ends meet. Every household makes sacrifices, and they are right to have
the same expectation of government.
In
addition, I would look at whether fees have been set at the right level. There
is a fine but important distinction between fees and taxes. Fees are paid by
the users of a particular service for that service, while taxes are paid by
everyone for services in general. I believe that it is more equitable to look
first to the costs generated by consumers of specific government services, and
ensure that these citizens are paying their fair share of costs. However,
government should not be in the profit-making business, and should not be
charging more than the cost of providing a service. This helps to ensure that
government does not grow larger than is necessary for the important, basic
services it provides for our mutual benefit.
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