Timnath charters new course with home rule vote

By Dan MacArthur
Fossil Creek Current

Timnath voters on Nov. 7 will consider adopting their own declaration of independence in the form of a home rule charter.

The charter would give the town greater authority to manage its own affairs and allow it to more quickly collect taxes, rather than enduring the processing delays experienced by municipalities operating under state statutes.

"Capturing our taxes is a big issue," said charter commission member and trustee Charlie Snider. "That's really a big deal."

In keeping with a growing national trend, the 30-page document specifically prohibits the town from condemning property and transferring it to a third party "for economic development purposes or to generate additional tax revenue."

It also details the process of expanding resident representation as the town of some 220 residents grows. When the number of registered voters reaches 1,200, the charter calls for the current five-member town board to become a town council with two additional members.

The council then would include three members elected from newly created districts and three others elected at large. The mayor would continue to be elected at large to a four-year term, the same term council members would serve after the transition is complete. No term limits would be imposed. Currently, the five-member board is elected at large to serve either two- or four-year terms.

Above and beyond the functional text that follows, the charter's preamble sets down the document's intent in loftier terms suggestive of the introduction to the nation's Constitution - appropriately enough, given that a charter effectively serves the same function for municipalities.

"We, the people of the Town of Timnath, Colorado, in order to avail ourselves of self-determination in town affairs to the fullest extent permissible under the constitution and laws of the state of Colorado, to provide a less complicated government more responsive to the people, to provide for greater cooperation with all governmental entities, and to provide a more efficient and effective town government, do hereby ordain, establish and adopt this home rule charter."

"Mindful of the opportunities for growth and expansion and with a strong sense of desire to preserve the community," the commission stated in its summary and synopsis of the proposed charter, "the commission has sought to prepare a charter which provides a structure for the effective and efficient conduct of the town government, and which also provides for greater representation and more participation in the affairs of the town by every member of the town."

A five-member redistricting committee would be created before June 15 in the first year the number of registered voters exceeds 1,200. The committee would be responsible for forming the three council districts. The charter dictates that the commission preserve the original townsite as one district or include it completely in one district in recognition of its significance historically and as a community.

While the council districts must remain roughly equal in population, Snider said the commission wanted to preserve the integrity of the old town to the greatest extent possible.

"We would like to see the existing town of Timnath retain some representation," he said. "We don't want it lost and forgotten."

The charter also calls on the town to establish its own municipal court that preserves a verbatim record of its proceedings. An attorney appointed as a judge for a two-year term will preside over the court.

Other provisions of the proposed charter include:

• Retention of the council-manager form of government
• The right to initiate ordinances and recall officials
• A requirement that ordinances must be approved by a two-thirds vote
• A provision giving the council authority to purchase, sell, exchange or dispose of any interest in real property

Sale of property actively used as the town hall, recreation center or public park, however, would require voter approval.

Snider and fellow trustee and commission member Meg Corwin said there was much discussion about the eminent domain provision, especially in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling giving municipalities authority to condemn property on behalf of private developers.

Snider said the charter commission reviewed sample codes from across the country from municipalities increasingly forbidding such actions.

"We spent a lot of time talking about the parameters and limits of eminent domain," Snider said. "We're not going to allow the town to condemn to generate tax revenue."

The nine-member charter commission included Mayor Donna Benson, trustees Snider, Corwin and Kim Speaker, planning commissioner Dick Weiderspon as well as Diane Fusaro, Del Miller, Susie Saunders and Raymond Wright.