The Summit County commissioners have placed Referendum 1A on the November ballot, asking voters to approve a tax hike that would raise about $5.9 million annually to establish a wildfire fund and to pay for open-space protection, affordable housing and other government services.
  Property-tax bills would rise about $11 for every $100,000 of assessed valuation, or $54 for a $500,000 home, if the measure is approved.
  Urgent local needs, including potential costs for fighting a cat­astrophic wildfire and demand for affordable housing — as well as spiraling costs for fuel, road materials and health insur­ance for county employees — justify the tax hike, according to the commissioners.
  A big portion of the tax would replace an existing 1.9 mill levy that raises about $3 million annually for open-space acquisi­tion and protection. That levy expires in 2010, when the new tax would take effect.
  This is the first of a two-part series in which the commission­ers answer questions about the measure and why they put it on the ballot.
  Why is the increased funding necessary?
  To start with, there are a cou­ple of important catalysts for the ballot measure. We have a severe pine-beetle infestation that is killing most of the lodgepole pine trees in the county. Anyone can just look out their window and see all the dead trees — and the problem is only going to get worse in the years ahead. These beetle-killed trees pose an immi­nent threat of a catastrophic fire in Summit County.
  To deal with this situation, we are proposing two actions. First, fuel mitigation is needed to reduce the fire danger. The coun­ty, state forester, fire districts and others have been working to identify and treat areas where the fuel (dead timber) is most critical and threatening. We are hoping to limit the likelihood of a wildfire in this county. Efforts have been undertaken for several years in the wildland/urban interface areas in an effort to reduce the risk of a devastating fire in those neighborhoods that border forest­ed area, and those efforts need to continue and intensify.
  Second, if a fire does break out, we will need an emergency reserve account to pay for the extraordinary wildfire expenses that the county will have to shoulder. We want to have the revenues to aggressively fight every fire that breaks out to limit the damage. This will potentially save the lives of firefighters, res­idents and visitors as well as pro­tect our homes and businesses. Most residents’ worst nightmare is the picture of Summit County with blackened forests and burned-out homes and business­es. If the voters do not approve funding for the wildfire-mitiga­tion program then it will not happen — it’s that simple.
  In addition, the county’s exist­ing open-space and trails funding is about to expire, and the voters need to approve an extension of that funding if the existing county Open Space and Trails program is to continue. The Open Space and Trails program preserves key parcels in the county to maintain our community’s mountain char­acter despite all the development pressures. These key parcels include buffer areas between our communities so we don’t have continuous development along all our roads and on our ridgelines like you see in many other coun­ties along Interstate 70.
  Important natural areas are also being preserved for wildlife habitat and along rivers, lakes and streams. We are limiting the development of backcountry parcels in the national forest and on ridgelines which would other­wise be developed with homes and roads, helping both the view corridors and recreational experi­ences for locals and visitors. Trails are also being preserved and improved through our existing program and that access is vital to the lifestyle of most people and businesses in Summit County.
  We also have some critical general-fund needs due to TABOR’s tight restrictions on government funding (Douglas Bruce’s constitutional amend­ment restricting tax revenues and spending). The general fund is the primary source of revenue for running basic county depart­ments, services and buildings.
  We have not had any tax increase for the county’s general fund since 1992, when the TABOR Amendment was passed, and time has run out for the general fund due to expenses increasing much faster than property-tax revenues, including the most recent energy increases.
  We also need to keep our facil­ities in basic working order and provide a safe working environ­ment for our workers, such as our mechanics who are responsi­ble for preventive maintenance and repairs on our equipment like our Road and Bridge Depart­ment snowplows, Summit Stage buses, ambulances and search­and- rescue equipment.
  The installation of energy­efficiency improvements within our facilities, including clean or renewable energy systems, such as solar will result in long-term savings, help the environment, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
  Finally, the county lacks the necessary funds to take action to acquire suitable land at a reason­able value for a potential afford­able workforce-housing site, such as a federal land trade.
  Without this land, the county will be unable to partner with private, local developers and builders who would actually construct and sell these homes.
 What would be some of the outcomes if it doesn’t pass?
  The outcomes would be painful for most residents, very painful for some. The county’s existing Open Space and Trails program will end. There will be no funding for wildfire-hazard mitigation in our neighborhoods and subdivisions. Other discre­tionary functions and depart­ments will have to be discontinued or severely limited. Even mandated departments like the Assessor’s Office or Sheriff’s Office will be affected and servic­es reduced. We anticipate cutting up to 35 jobs and will need to scale back all county services because that is what we are engaged in — services for our residents and visitors. If a depart­ment or service is not mandated by law it would either go away or its programs would be subject to significant reductions.
  Affected departments include, in no particular order: the library system, the Community/Senior Center and seniors programs, the Wildfire Hazardous Fuel Reduc­tion program, Animal Control, Geographic Information System real property information and mapping data website, CSU Cooperative Extension including 4-H, the Weed Control program and of course Open Space and Trails. Snow-plowing services in the county will likely be reduced due to fuel costs and county offices may be open fewer days or hours each week.