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Summit Daily letters: State Rep. Millie Hamner supports CMC ballot item

Vote yes on CMC ballot item

In the upcoming November election, Ballot Measure 4B would benefit every community in House District 61 that has a Colorado Mountain College campus. Colorado Mountain College was created 50 years ago as a locally funded college, and today it provides access to the most affordable college education in Colorado. CMC is a true community asset, supporting businesses and individuals alike.

However, CMC is facing a looming revenue challenge caused by the Gallagher Amendment in our state constitution. This amendment is pushing down property tax rates statewide due to the growth on the Front Range, which results in less funding for local governments, schools, and the Colorado Mountain College — all of which voters have previously approved! This year alone, CMC is experiencing a loss of $2.8 million in funding due to these Gallagher adjustments, and it’s projected that the Gallagher tax rates will be lowered again as long as growth in the Front Range continues at a rapid pace. We need to do something to protect against these continued cuts to an important community resource — so I urge your support for Ballot Measure 4B.



What CMC’s Measure 4B does:

• It prevents future erosion of Colorado Mountain College’s budget by the Gallagher Amendment by allowing the CMC Board of Trustees to adjust certain mill levies to offset future Gallagher reductions.



• 4B is not a residential property tax increase; residential taxpayers would pay the same level of property taxes as they would have paid prior to a Gallagher adjustment. It would simply allow CMC’s elected board to recover ONLY the revenues lost by CMC due to these adjustments.

• Passing 4B will preserve accessible quality education for future generations – providing affordable tuition, free college classes for high school students, and highly qualified training for business owners, employees, teachers, veterans, nurses, police officers, and emergency responders.

I believe that passing measure 4B is critical to our local economy. CMC provides our communities with essential and high demand employees like EMTs, teachers, ski area operators and police officers. Protecting funding for CMC is an investment in our communities that pays dividends well into the future.

Vote Yes on 4B to protect our local asset!

Rep. Millie Hamner

Dillon


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