When it comes to regional involvement, Castle Rock has a split personality. About a fifth of this community of 35,000 people lies inside the Regional Transportation District, and rest is outside. On Nov. 1, Castle Rock voters will decide whether put the whole city into the district or leave entirely. They’ll make the same all-in or all-out choice about the Metropolitan Stadium District.
In The Post’s view, Castle Rock is an important and growing part of the metropolitan area and should be part of those districts, especially in the critical area of transportation planning. We urge voters to place all of the town within both regional districts.
That’s a simple recommendation, but the ballot is so confusing it will require a total of four votes to decide the issues. The RTD question first asks whether all of the town should be excluded from RTD and its accompanying 1 percent sales tax. The next question asks if the whole town should be included in RTD. The second pair likewise first asks whether all of Castle Rock should be excluded from the stadium district and its 0.1 percent tax, then whether all of the town should be included.
On both issues, The Post urges a “no” vote on exclusion and “yes” on inclusion.
(To add to the confusion, if both exclusion and inclusion are defeated, the current situation will remain in place. If both exclusion and inclusion pass, the one with the most “yes” votes will prevail.)
While The Post recommends twin “no” and “yes” votes, the town council has urged “yes” and “no” votes on both measures. Council members believe the services they receive from RTD are not worth the taxes some residents pay. In the case of the stadium district, the council feels city residents shouldn’t have to pay the tax since Invesco Field has been built, even though stadium bonds still are being paid off.
The town council is obviously entitled to its opinion. Unfortunately, in our view, it chose to spend $4,232 to print and mail campaign brochures to voters, complete with marked sample ballots. State law generally restricts campaign activity by government bodies once a title has been set, but town officials believe they complied with the letter of the law by mailing the pieces before the council set the final ballot language Aug. 30. But the law exists for a reason and such advocacy with public funds is a disservice to Castle Rock taxpayers who deserve to hear both sides of both issues.
