Salida City Council approves 2025 budget, calls for Xcel – Floyd Rovano

The Salida City Council wrapped up its regular schedule for the month on Oct. 15 with a treat: a very rare and short session. Although an item was added to the “New Business” section at the beginning of the meeting, it did not appear to last very long.

As part of the approval program, the board approved two special event liquor licenses for the Salida Elks Lodge: one for the annual charity ball on Nov. 16 and one for the Christmas Mountain Parade of Lights and Lighting celebrations on Nov. 29 and 30. Both were approved along with the rest of the consensus agenda.

Adam Martinez came out for public comment. At the last regular meeting, Martinez shared his thoughts on the City Council and its staff, particularly City Administrator Christy Duna. Mayor Dan Shore responded; Unsatisfied, Martinez called the mayor a pathological liar.

Shor answered him with his back. The city has no right to evict anyone, no matter how much Martinez might want to do so. “Property rights are sacred,” he said. He expressed support for those who live on Walnut Street and their disappointment with the situation at 610 Walnut, as well as Christy Dun and her work.

At the end of the irrigation season, Dave Hinmann briefly and sweetly thanked city officials, particularly Ryan Matthews of the public works department, for keeping the parks green.

Unfinished business begins with approval of the 2025 budget

The first piece of unfinished business was the approval of the budget in Resolution 2024-64, presented by Chief Financial Officer Aimee Tikhonovich. The figures provided to the City Council have changed slightly, with housing contributions and outdoor space fees increasing. All other position changes totaled less than $20,000. After vigorous discussion of the 2025 budget, matters quickly moved to council.

Councilwoman Alice Pappenforth said she was “thrilled” with the finance department’s work on the budget. “You took a lot of pain out of it,” she said. The council agreed.

Councilman Justin Critelli outlined how community projects will change: For the foreseeable future, the council will encourage people who come to them with projects to “get creative” with help from the community and grant sources. This does not mean that they will not approve of them, but this is “the reality we are entering.”

Federal funding and large tax revenues following the COVID-19 pandemic brought money to Salida that the council decided to invest in the community, but those days are gone. “It’s time to slow down a little,” Tikhonovich said. The proposal to approve the budget was adopted.

Next on the list was Ordinance 2024-19, which added an attendance clause to the planning commission section of Salida’s municipal code. City Attorney Jeff Wilson introduced it with plenty of help from Community Development Director Bill Almquist.

The council has seven regular seats and two alternate seats; Meetings may be held with a quorum of only four participants. If no one comes to fill the empty seats, Almquist joked, they will “introduce a draft—though they’ll be able to figure it out when it happens.” The motion to approve passed.

Only one new item was discussed: Monday, Oct. 21, to discuss the Chaffee Housing Authority’s intergovernmental agreement and discuss the terms of the Poncha Springs sewer lawsuit trial in executive session. The motion to approve passed.

Council reports

Councilman Aaron Stevens attended the ArtWalk. He thanked Tina Gramann, Arts and Culture, and Diesel Post, Parks and Recreation, for the wonderful event. He also mentioned the 300-biker championship in Salida, which he could watch from stations on Methodist Mountain.

Councilman Pappenforth blamed Xcel Energy for repeated power outages over the past several months. She encouraged seniors who have medical equipment in the area to contact the Regional Agency on Aging for help enrolling in their early notification program for planned power outages.

She also mentioned discussions about access to the top of Tenderfoot Hill and said she would be satisfied with “travel at your own risk” signs along the trail. “If you’re willing to go out there and fall off that giant hill, then go ahead,” she admitted. Finally, she thanked city officials for increasing their focus on remote participants.

Councilman Dominic Naccarato reminded commission and board members that they do not speak for the entire council when making a statement to news sources unless the council votes on it in open meeting; otherwise, they must declare that they are speaking independently. She also asked the council to support a study of a road at the base of Tenderfoot Hill, near the old Hollywood section of town (support came from Pappenforth). Finally, she asked for a resolution to support the Colorado Municipal League’s housing solutions (this time support came from Shore).

Councilwoman Suzanne Fontana thanked those who made ArtWalk a reality, but said she heard the event needed more attention and “excitement.” She added that right before the meeting began, she also heard from a business owner who was frustrated by power and internet outages. “(They) can’t stand up to Xcel, but we have to speak up for them,” she said. Business owners and the city are losing income and jobs due to these outages. The city needs answers.

Fontana also mentioned a proposal that Administrator Dong send the council to consolidate all scheduled city council meetings into one meeting. While there are some potential issues, the council said they are willing to explore it theoretically, “but it has to work for everyone,” Mayor Shore said.

Councilman Critelli paid tribute to his friend Noah Abrams, who passed away on October 11th.

Mayor Shore commented on the situation with verbal attacks on employees. “If you want to attack someone, attack me,” he said. The city is responsive to council decisions, and if bad decisions are made, the council should be held accountable, not the staff. “The city runs well because of the staff.”

He then reached out to Xcel Energy, instructing employees to file a formal complaint through the public utility commission; they are supported by the district itself. He accused the company of greed, noting that its CEO was paid more than $21 million last year despite what he called poor performance and poor service. “All that matters is providing us with reliable and stable power. Do this and Salida will love you. Don’t do this and there will be a lot of noise.”

City sales tax revenue will be measured by location

Tikhonovich presented the treasurer’s report, which used an entirely new way of measuring city revenues: the numbers were broken down by city district.

Local businesses located outside of the city center have their own category. Downtown businesses that are between D and I Streets, Sackett Avenue and Fourth Street (but not grocery, construction, gas stations or furniture stores) have theirs. Remote stores, online stores that some Salidans have, have their own category. Most of the sales tax in Salida comes from local stores.

Sales taxes for August were up 5.7 percent for the city and 4.9 percent for the county.

Taxes are 2.9 percent higher than a year ago. The downtown sector is down 4.5 percent year-to-date, but this August it was 7 percent higher than last year.

Revenues fell, but so did city spending; this results in a net increase in the general fund. The fire department’s finances also look better than expected. Other government funds remain over budget and the police building still has to be accounted for. This makes the costs seem a little higher than they should be.

Critelli closed the meeting after just 42 minutes. The full meeting is on YouTube here.

Pictured: Salida City Council. Pictured: Merrell Bergin