I encourage you to vote yes on questions 6A and 6B this November.
It’s my belief a modern recreation center in Cañon City will become the central hub of our community bringing our citizens together to socialize, educate, share ideas, relax, unwind, reboot, and of course, play!
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A community with access to year-round indoor water activities will allow people the ideal medium in which to exercise and recreate in a healthful, safe, low-impact manner.
Citizens with disabilities, children of all ages, athletes, and all types of adults will be able to access the center to play, train, and focus on wellness with minimal physical impact on their bodies.
Though my focus is on water-based activities, our new center will also provide a wide variety of opportunities for people to engage in activities that build heart strength, muscle strength, and relationships.
This fall, the voters of Cañon City can make this a reality.
Join me in voting yes!
Mike Banker,
Cañon City
I appreciate Cañon City’s low property taxes. This gives me the freedom to choose how to spend my earnings. I can work extra hours to afford gym memberships. I can work less if my health requires me to de-stress, and exercise at home or outdoors for free.
Ballot issues 6A and 6B for a community center authorize “property taxes be levied without limits as to the mill rate….” The center would cause city spending to be 2.65 times more. No one dodges the increased taxes to fund that. Maybe you couldn’t afford a gym membership before — with 6A&B you will be forced to pay for a gym as a condition for having a place to live. This could devastate those on a fixed income and those in debt.
Some people can afford the tax while others cannot. Affordability is not the heart of the matter — it’s morality. If you vote for 6A and 6B, you are heaping a burden on your neighbor who may not be able to afford it and taking away their freedom to choose how they spend their money. For matters like roads and law enforcement, these are necessities that benefit citizens equally, a proper use of taxation – a community center is not.
Additionally, it is not right for the government to favor one enterprise over competing enterprises. Cañon City taxes will be favoring the community center over many private businesses. Ongoing funding for the community center will depend on stealing patronage from at least nine gyms, three dance studios, a yoga studio, etc. It is not moral to destroy these private businesses and devalue their investments!
Because I am not a thief, and I do not burden the poor, I am voting “NO” on 6A and 6B.
Mary Smith,
Canon City
I fully support the idea of a new Recreation Center, am an avid supporter of the Canon City Recreation District, but am fundamentally opposed to new mill levy property taxes, particularly as it affects small business owners in our community.
The Recreation District is a vital and cherished organization that has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life in Cañon City for decades, and we are all better off for their efforts.
But are higher property taxes the right answer for harried local business owners, commercial property owners, vacant property owners, and operators of short-term rental properties, all of which are taxed at FOUR TIMES the residential tax rate?
While the residential property is taxed at 7.5%, these types of properties are taxed at an eye-watering 29%!
Vacant land that is valued by the Assessor at $80K, has a similar tax burden as a $320K residence. To put it another way, a $320K commercial property can have approximately the same tax burden as a $1.2MIL residence!
While additional taxes for the average homeowner are nominal, even small increases can add thousands a year to the cost of owning and operating commercial property, short-term rentals, and vacant land. Voting for higher property tax rates is voting for higher commercial and residential rents, lower wages, and ultimately higher costs of services and goods.
Local business owners and merchants are still reeling from an unprecedented crisis, while inflation, inventory and supply chain issues, labor shortages, and greater regulatory burdens, are all rearing their ugly heads. Can we, in good conscience, vote for them to pay more?
I would absolutely love to see a new Recreation Center in Cañon City but have to believe there’s a better way forward that doesn’t disproportionately impact the very people who have invested so much in our community.
Martin Welch,
Cañon City
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Letters to the Editor: Residents debate proposed recreation center - Canon City Daily Record
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