Why Western Colorado’s economic future runs through Shoshone

Why Western Colorado’s economic future runs through Shoshone

For more than a century, the Shoshone water rights have quietly done something extraordinary for Western Colorado: They have kept the Colorado River flowing when it matters most. Those senior rights, first established in the early 1900s, are far more than a hydropower plant in Glenwood Canyon. They are one of the most important pieces […]

Common sense still works — Colorado just needs to use it

Common sense still works — Colorado just needs to use it

In the business world, there’s one principle that separates success from failure: You can’t spend what you don’t have. If a company tried to launch a dozen new initiatives without funding them, investors would walk, creditors would call, and the board would be out by morning. Yet somehow, that’s exactly how the State of Colorado […]

State’s unfunded mandates leave local taxpayers holding the bill

Mesa County is proud of how we’ve managed our local budget. We’ve kept spending in check, rebuilt our reserves since the Great Recession and honored the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) by refunding tens of millions of dollars back to the people who earned it. Just last December, we returned $11.5 million to Mesa County […]