Sales and use tax collections continue to climb in Mesa County, but lodging tax collections dropped after three straight months of increases compared to last year. According to a City of Grand Junction report for February, sales and use tax collections totalled $3.68 million. That’s a 15.5 percent increase over the February 2010 report. Year-over-year […]
The opening of the Fruita Community Center marked the culmination of years of planning — as well as contention that resulted at one point in a tie vote over whether or not to increase the municipal sales tax rate to fund the facility. Voters finally approved a 1 percent sales tax hike in the spring […]
“In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything.” — Wayne Aspinall, congressman from Colorado, 1949 to 1973 “Water: We have it, the Front Range wants it.” — oft-mentioned phrase by residents of Western Colorado Wayne Aspinall, one of the leaders in efforts to dam and store river water in the West, offered sage […]
Water wars are as infamous as battles between sheep and cattle ranchers in Western Colorado lore. But while opponents in livestock conflicts rarely resort to fisticuffs any more, negotiations over water rights can still come close to resembling old-fashioned street fights. Water companies in the Grand Valley have a different tale to tell, though. The […]
In the midst of a discussion about increasing production of natural gas in Western Colorado this year, the energy industry is grappling with national reports about contamination from fluids disposed of following hydraulic fracturing — a process also called fracking. The contaminants, which sometimes include chemicals from the fracking process as well as salts and […]
In light of predictions the Colorado population will double over the next 40 years, people who use and manage water are working to ensure there’ll be enough of the “liquid gold” to go around. Everyone in the state — and in the West, for that matter — will feel the effects of such efforts. Those […]
Even as natural gas companies hope to escalate extraction in Western Colorado this year, the companies continue to address environmental concerns and questions about potential effects on the health of people who live in the region. Environmental groups scrutinize the hydrofracturing process and fluids used to fracture rock to release gas. The companies often don’t […]
Spending during a portion of the important holiday shopping season in Grand Junction was up nearly 10 percent over last year, according to the latest sales and use tax collection report from the city. The tax report for January, which reflects spending in December, shows the city collected $5.02 million. That total is up 9.8 […]
Lodging tax collections for the City of Grand Junction follow the trend reflected in sales tax collections for the city and Mesa County — they’re rising compared to collections for the same months last year. “Things are better than they were last year,” said Barbara Bowman, director of sales and division manager for the Grand […]
Commercial property foreclosures haven’t yet occurred to the extent some economic experts predicted in the wake of the Great Recession. The housing market — both nationally and in the Grand Valley — remains the greater concern with increased foreclosure activity. While commercial foreclosures could occur locally over the next year, some in the industry don’t […]