At the October 2012 monthly meeting, the City asked INC to endorse Denver’s Measure 2A.  The following is an explanation of INC’s position on Measure 2A.  The position explanation was sent by letter to  Evan Dreyer, Deputy Chief of Staff, City & County of Denver immediately following the October 15 Executive Committee meeting. 

Background: Under the measure, the city would restore 6.2 mills (a mill is 1/10th of a penny) to its property-tax rate that it has been forced to reduce since 1996 in order to stay beneath a cap imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) on the amount of revenue it can keep and spend.  The money would go toward restoring services that have been cut in the past four years and would pair with an additional $55 million in spending cuts, as well as an exemption of as long as four years on the business personal property tax assessed on equipment bought by companies that are expanding space or adding workers. [Source: Denver Business Journal]

INC’S LETTER TO THE CITY

Dear Evan:
At the October INC Executive Committee meeting  there was a very lively and thorough discussion of taking an “exceptional action” as allowed by the organization’s Bylaws, regarding the City’s De-Brucing Amendment 2A. For your information the applicable section of the Bylaws which enables this action is below.

C. Powers of the Delegation.
The Delegation shall have full power and authority over the affairs of INC. No MO, Delegate, committee, or individual shall obligate or bind INC to any commitment or position without the approval of the Delegation.

When timing requires immediate action, any INC Officer may propose that INC take a position or choose to act on any matter by making a recommendation for “exceptional action” to the INC President. The President will telephone, email, or meet with the members of the Board of Directors to obtain their approval of the Officer’s proposed action. If the action is approved by the Board of Directors, the President will direct the Membership Chair to immediately notify the member RNO Delegates by email and/ or telephone of the proposed action and to request a reply within 24-hours recommending approval or disapproval of the action. If a majority of the member RNO Delegates recommends  approval of the exceptional action, the President shall authorize the action and inform the Delegation of the action at the next monthly Delegation meeting.

There was a discussion of the substantive matter of whether (or not) a position on a ballot tax issue was appropriate;  whether Board members could fairly represent their own RNOs positions; whether INC’s role had been at least partially fulfilled through its involvement with the League of Women Voters in informing the public, the timing of the ballot issue versus timing of INC delegate meetings over the past two months where the issue could have been more fairly presented; and whether, based on the process proscribed in the Bylaws, taking an “exceptional action” on this particular issue at this time would even result in getting a 50% of the 192 delegates to respond.

Confident that the voters of Denver will express their will with or without INC’s involvement in endorsements, there was, therefore, a unanimous Board decision not ask the delegation to take a position on ballot issue 2A. We do, however, always appreciate the City staff consideration of INC’s opinions and involvement.

Respectfully yours,

Larry Ambrose
President INC