Then, in the same breath, the county turned to the taxpayers and asked us to agree to a tax hike of $ 3.9 million because they had “nobly” spent all $ 4 million of our road and bridge money on their new chairs, furniture, carpet, etc.

The important people that manage our taxpayer dollars knew without question there was no way we would approve that much money for the remodel of an existing building, so they purposely chose not to ask us. Once that money was squandered, they had to devise a strategy to fund road and bridge repair, which is utilized by 100 percent of the population, and coincidentally, was estimated at $ 3.9 million.

While there may be mitigating circumstances regarding the appropriate dispersal of financial resources, the fact remains that the resources that were available were not properly budgeted in the face of the obvious and looming foreseeable future of declining oil and gas revenues. Until the current administration is held accountable, faces reality and decides to look out for the interest of its citizens before themselves, we the taxpayers can expect more of the same in the years ahead.

Jeff Pratt

Durango