Recently, our neighbors in Broomfield learned that city officials are considering a staggering 50% increase in resident and business utility rates (water, sewer, stormwater) to maintain aging city infrastructure. As you would expect, Broomfield’s elected officials and city staff blamed poor long-term planning from their predecessors, with the City Manager stating the city was built in a way that didn’t “have the future in mind.”
I served as your Mayor for three terms from 2004-2010. Perhaps the most challenging time leading was during the great recession and the financial crisis it caused our economy, you, and the town. I led the effort to establish the $7.5M rainy day fund. For over a decade, the fund was a unique element that symbolized Erie’s long-term planning vision and understanding that surprise taxes and fee hikes greatly burden our residents.
Last year, the Erie Board of Trustees eliminated Erie’s rainy day fund to free up money for big-ticket expenditures like expanding Town Hall and Government Housing. During board comments, one of the key themes from the Erie Council justifying the elimination of the fund was that Erie hasn’t had to dip into the rainy day fund since 2010, so it is unnecessary and unlikely to be needed in the future. As we are seeing play out now in Broomfield, long-term contingency planning is not a big deal until, suddenly, it is!
Your opinion matters. What do you think? Are you happy with the elimination of Erie’s rainy day fund? Would you like to see the fund reinstated?
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