With the November election just a few months away, Citizens for a Better Falcon hosted a meeting in June regarding a Falcon incorporation. Spokesman Mike Hurd said they organized the meeting to provide information to the public, with hopes for strong responses.”We want to get past a simple ‘yes’ or simple ‘no,'” Hurd said. “If it’s a ‘yes,’ why is it a ‘yes’? If it’s a ‘no,’ why is it a ‘no’? If you’re undecided, we want to know what you need to make it a ‘yes’ or ‘no.'”The group presented their own reasons for saying “yes” to incorporation. “We want local control,” Hurd said. “If you’re a resident now, your voice is as big as one in 604,542. If there were a city of Falcon based on the projected boundaries, your voice would be one in 10,000, since a third of the population is kids.”He added that no one on the county commission resides in Falcon.Other reasons for a yes vote:County servicesFalcon residents currently pay 1 percent in sales tax, property taxes and fees to the county. With that 1 percent, the county maintains roads and bridges; provides sheriff services; planning and land use services through the regional building committee; parks and recreation services; and animal control services.Currently, sheriff services in Falcon take a back seat to Colorado Springs, Hurd said. If there was a call in Colorado Springs and a call in Falcon received in the sheriff’s office at the same time, the Springs call automatically takes precedent, he said. Response times could be two to three times longer in Falcon, he added.Kent Pritchard, manager of a local drugstore in Falcon, said he was concerned that if something happened in his store requiring the sheriff’s services, the response time would be too great to be of any use. Brian Swanson, Citizens for a Better Falcon member, said, “If the sheriff is local, the response time is going to be very different.” Instead of coming from the Springs, the sheriff would already be patrolling the area or at least have an office in town, he said.Wasted fundsHurd said there are several services residents are paying for but not receiving. He said residents pay roughly $120,000 a year to the Pikes Peak Rural Transit Authority. In 2008, Colorado Springs residents voted to discontinue bus services just east of Powers Boulevard, so the PPRTA doesn’t reach anyone in the Falcon area, he said.Animal Control services also end just east of Powers but are still included in the 1 percent county tax.Oil and gas leasesOf concern to many attendees were the four oil and gas leases in the county. One person expressed concern about how he would challenge the potential to have oil rigs on his property. “The city of Falcon would allow you to have city-level representation versus individual representation,” Hurd said. “The idea is – would you like to fight this all by yourself or have the city of Falcon behind you?”The proposalHurd said he is proposing that the city of Falcon provide local police, sheriff and court services; public works services such as planning and land use; building and permits; road and bridge maintenance; parks and recreation services; a cemetery; and animal control services.”It’s possible to do this well for very little money,” Hurd said.The city of Falcon would opt out of the PPRTA, which would reduce sales tax by 1 percent, making it 3.9 percent, he said. Falcon would then add a 2 percent local sales tax, making the final sales tax 5.9 percent. “We don’t want to dilute the advantage of a lower sales tax,” Hurd said. In addition, there would be a 2 percent franchise fee placed on new businesses in Falcon. “The projected revenue on $100 million in taxable sales, fees and fines is $2.5 million,” he said. Falcon would keep all of it. Hurd compared the figures to the $2 million in taxes and fees residents pay to Colorado Springs.The proposal does not include an increase in property taxes and business income taxes or the city taking possession of wells or water rights.The boundaries as reported in the May issue of The New Falcon Herald remain the same.Concerns about the proposalOne attendee asked about the costs of sending a bus to the rural parts of town. “With this proposal, at least busing would be an option,” Hurd said. “We’re talking about options. The ‘what ifs.’ Without a city government, there is no ‘what if.’ There’s only ‘this is what you’ve got.'”Another attendee asked if Falcon could implement the proposal under the current budget, in comparison to other cities. “We’re in the process of doing that,” Hurd said. “Some cities are doing it well, and some aren’t.”We want to start having these closer meetings with the community. We’re trying to figure out a way to make it easy and simple to present the pros and cons.”
