Home rule considered by Timnath trustees

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Timnath voters likely will get the chance to decide whether to give their town more clout and flexibility through home rule.

Trustees expressed tentative support for putting the issue before voters at either next year's April 4 municipal election, or the Nov. 7 general election.

In essence, home rule gives municipalities greater ability to establish a structure best suited for readily responding to their individual demands and desires. In contrast, so-called statutory cities are limited to exercising only that authority permitted by state law. In the absence of such specific authority, statutory cities must persuade the state legislature to grant them additional powers.

Fort Collins is a home rule city; Wellington is not.

Timnath trustees appeared to concur with the four current and former officials who endorsed conversion to home rule in a panel discussion at a June 8 work session.

"It does allow you to create a road map for your future," said Dallas Everhart, a former Silverthorne town manager who also held administrative positions in Aspen and Minturn. "I think it's a smart move for you."

Mayor pro tem Ron Weeks expressed similar satisfaction with Windsor's recent adoption of a home rule charter. And even Jordan Eichem, assistant Frederick town administrator, praised home rule - even though voters in that Weld County town of 6,000 this spring rejected conversion by a 3-1 margin.

But Ken Bueche, executive director of Colorado Municipal League, was by far the most enthusiastic advocate. According to the CML, 91 of the state's 271 municipalities are home rule, encompassing 90 percent of those living in incorporated towns and cities. And, he said, continuing interest is being shown. Estes Park residents will vote on home rule this summer.

"Home rule gives you a stronger bargaining position," said Bueche.

Among the top motives for towns going to home rule, he said, is the ability to assure sales taxes are collected correctly and immediately rather than waiting for the state to rebate the town's share. Mayor Donna Benson cited that factor as one of her key considerations in exploring home rule.

Bueche noted that home rule also gives municipalities the ability to assess a broader range of taxes. In Windsor, Weeks said, home rule enabled the town to successfully seek a tax increase to build a recreation center.

In addition to that flexibility, Bueche said, home rule allows towns to tailor their tax system "so the other guy is paying more" through lodging, admissions and excise taxes that often are paid by nonresidents.

Home rule also gives municipalities the ability to create their own form of government, broader powers of eminent domain beyond their boundaries, and greater and more flexible zoning, land-use and planning powers.

"Frankly, I don't see any downside to home rule," said town attorney Kathy Haddock.

But careful and deliberate development of a charter is the key, all agreed, to winning voter support for conversion to home rule.

All four agreed that the home rule charter should be simple and direct because overly detailed and restrictive charters can actually reduce the flexibility they're supposed to increase. Bueche said the charter should set a framework and not attempt to deal with every possibility. He offered to provide charters from other Colorado towns for trustees to review and possibly choose language they might want to include in Timnath's version.

The panelists cautioned that composition of the commission that drafts the home rule charter is also critical. Charter commissions are composed of an odd number of residents with membership ranging from nine to 21.

Eichem urged the trustees to carefully assemble a charter commission, avoiding those with special interests. In Frederick, he said, there was an obvious philosophical schism between those who supported a more active role for government and those who wanted to limit its powers. Eichem said the volatile split soon erupted in legal threats and loud arguments between the former town administrator and members of the charter commission. He attributed that internal dissent to the overwhelming defeat of home rule in Frederick.

"If things go wrong, they can really go wrong," he said. "When you do it right and do it for the town, I think home rule is really beneficial."

"If you've got citizens out there who are not comfortable with city hall, you've got a problem right there," agreed Bueche. "It's easy to point out home rule is a grasp for power."

But by the same token, he said, if residents now are relatively happy with the way the town is working, it might be a good time to ask them for to authorize the broader powers of home rule even if Timnath doesn't currently need them.

Weeks said Windsor town board members made a conscious decision that they would not serve on the charter commission and it would be an independent body. He said the commission broke into subcommittees that wrote their own segments with little involvement by the town attorney.

"So it really is relatively simple," he said.

Bueche said perhaps the biggest challenge is informing those not directly involved. But trustee Tim Gaines suggested that may not be as much of a problem as attempting to hurry the home rule process.

"If we try to ram it through as fast as we can, it's probably not going to happen," he said.

If the trustees choose to shoot for a charter election next spring, the process would begin in August. Should they opt for a fall election, work would begin in January.