r/Greeley • u/Greeley_free_press • 4d ago

Conversation with Community Members on Why They Are Voting No on Ballot Measure 2F

https://greeleyfreepress.substack.com/p/conversation-with-community-members

Give a listen to better understand why some community members are voting "no on 2F," Greeley's proposed tax increase on our November ballot.

6 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

7

u/notahugefan1 4d ago

Vote no on this.

Don’t let the talk of “golf course maintenance” or other explanations distract you.

This is a tax to fund Catalyst and the mistakes made so far.

7

u/snowman-of-help-1134 3d ago

I'm voting no for a few simple reasons:

  1. There is no language in 2F that specifies how much money goes to which projects, meaning the City can decide to divert ALL funds to Catalyst while leaving everything else high and dry. They could divert ALL funds to Civic Campus, they could put all that money into one project. This isn't a reasonable way to structure a tax like this, and they won't even carve out a very small minimum for things like parks and trails.

  2. Lumping in an $800 million dollar project like Catalyst with projects like repairs to Centennial Pool or The Poudre Trail makes is very questionable muddying of the waters. Catalyst is a for-profit project. Parks, trails, and rec are not. A for-profit project and not-for-profit amenities shouldn't be funded the same way.

  3. By lumping together projects of VASTLY different costs, we end up paying a lot more than we need to in order to fund Catalyst. A vote on parks, rec, and trails alone would be a tiny fraction of the 6%.

  4. The 6% tax was what the City, in a Council meeting, said was needed to make Catalyst work, and that's how they arrived at that number. The lifespan of the tax is based on repaying the Catalyst debt, not on projections for needed maintenance or other projects. But the City keeps saying it's not about Catalyst. If the amount of the tax and lifespan of the tax are based on Catalyst, which parts are not about Catalyst?

  5. I DO NOT like when politicians cram unlike things together under one vote in order to get something pushed through, and that's exactly what's happening here. This kind of thing should not be happening at any level of government, and we can put a stop to it right here in our own City.

  6. I feel the City is trying to threaten the residents by saying that certain things might go away if this doesn't pass rather than pledging to do their jobs and make things work to the best of their ability, regardless of the outcomes of the election.

4

u/Mammoth-Average113 4d ago

The city government needs to be more efficient with our tax dollars not asking for more.

3

u/Knitonover 3d ago

With the tax being 60 cents on every $100 it’s set up to have 50 cents go to the west Greeley project and ‘if there is any left over’ then fund civic campus and parks, etc. that was my understanding. Voted no