County pauses roads tax ballot question

Faced with what would have been a daunting task on a short timeline, Gunnison County commissioners on Tuesday elected to postpone a ballot measure asking voters for a tax increase to fund road and bridge maintenance.

For three decades, the county has struggled with the combination of dramatically rising road maintenance costs and declining revenue from the state. A recent report by Public Works Director Martin Schmidt estimated a deferred maintenance backlog of $38 million over 10 years.

While commissioners agreed that the initiative is necessary to solve the urgent and worsening shortfall in funding, they concluded there isn’t enough time this year to properly engage and inform the public. The county will aim to place a question on the ballot in the fall of 2026.

“[Waiting] would give us time to really put together a strategy to reach out to the voters of Gunnison County, [and] to be very specific about taking that data and putting it into a digestible form,” Commissioner Jonathan Houck said.

Other factors spurred the decision as well. First, County Manager Matthew Birnie reminded commissioners that the City of Gunnison is considering a ballot measure of its own this fall to ask voters for a tax increase to fund a new fire station. The chances of a successful outcome are typically reduced when voters must consider multiple requests for new taxes, he said.

“Sooner is better, but I think we need to be smart about strategy and timing,” Birnie said. “My sense is that this fall might be soon, given where we are now. We don't have to defer to [the city], but I do think we are more likely to be successful by waiting.”

In addition, the county is in the final stages of hiring a communications director to fill the newly created role. Interviews are scheduled for this week and commissioners expect that person to play a key role in developing an outreach strategy once they are fully up to speed in the position. In the meantime, the county will begin creating opportunities for public engagement as soon as possible.

Lands resolution

On May 20 commissioners also unanimously passed a resolution affirming the county’s support for keeping public lands under public ownership, rather than being sold to private parties. The budget reconciliation bill currently being considered in Congress contains an amendment that would authorize the sale of nearly half a million acres of public land in Utah and Nevada.

Houck developed a resolution that he said he believes makes clear the county’s opposition to any trend toward divestiture of public lands. Gunnison County spans 3,259 square miles, over 80% of which is publicly owned and managed land.

“These public lands provide essential resources to our residents, workers and visitors,” the resolution states.

Those benefits include “clean air; grazing lands for agricultural operations; habitats for wildlife; rivers, lakes and watersheds which provide for our drinking water and healthy fish populations, wildfire suppression, and agricultural irrigation; cultural resources; scenic beauty; renewable energy, fossil fuels and minerals; timber; a ski area; and opportunities for other outdoor recreation.”

“I think it was important for us to be on the record exactly where we stand and why,” Houck said. “Also this becomes a tool that can be utilized by decision makers, especially at the federal level, our congressional delegation. This is not a new position at all. Public lands have always been the centerpiece of everything in Gunnison County, and everything's tethered to it.”

(Alan Wartes can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or publisher@gunnisontimes.com.)