On May 29, some Falcon area residents will have the opportunity to vote on proposed measures for incorporation and home rule. The proposed town charter provides for funding the town of Falcon through an additional sales tax, collected on non-food purchases within the proposed town boundaries.Letís think about this for a moment.With a petition of 200 names, the pro-incorporation committee convinced an El Paso County district court to approve and schedule an election. There are an estimated 1,400 registered voters within the proposed town boundaries who have the opportunity to vote on the incorporation and home rule proposals. If the incorporation issue passes, an additional sales tax of 1.6 percent will be collected from an estimated 12,000 Falcon area shoppers.Funding the local government through property taxes is not feasible, because there simply isnít enough potential revenue from households within the proposed boundaries. A sales tax paid by the surrounding area residents and collected by both existing and future businesses (yes, a Wal-Mart Super Center is now under construction in Falcon), offers a much greater town revenue potential.Talk about taxation without representation!Eight area residents have been appointed to an election commission. The commissionís responsibility is to provide a fair and unbiased election. Are you wondering who might be on this commission? Would you believe that all eight are members of the nine-member Falcon Incorporation Committee (www.falconco.org)? While they may be uniquely qualified to ensure a fair and unbiased election, you would think it would have been wise to include opposition members, or at least non-committed residents, on the commission.In the interest of fair and open communication, I forwarded a copy of this letter to Mr. Cline, the chairman of the Falcon Incorporation Committee, prior to publication. Our organization has not received a response directly from Mr. Cline or his committee. Will we, or will they choose to respond publicly rather than to us? We, the public, have received precious little information from this group historically, so they may choose to ignore us or respond indirectly. Maybe they are just shy.If you agree that we need to stop and take a closer look at these issues, go to www.NoFalconCO.org or call us at 719-495-1500, and we can tell you how to get involved. If you happen to live within the boundaries of this proposed 12 square mile town, vote NO on May 29.Incorporating Falcon may or may not be a good idea, but the manner in which this issue of incorporation has been approached becomes more suspicious the closer you look. Exactly what is going on here?
