Diary of a Mad Voter: Better (Tax) Denver?

As a politically active libertarian Republican living in large Western city, a day of civic advocacy can feel as pleasant and productive as climbing a 14,000 foot mountain in the middle of a lightning storm. Simply put, the forces are against you.

I chose my adopted hometown of Denver because — in some respects — freedom runneth over. I can stake ten political signs in my front yard and no homeowner's association or neighborhood covenant can stop me. I can paint my house any color of the rainbow and passersby probably won't even think twice. I could even be so daring as to set off fireworks on the 4th of July, and gasp, the police might not show up. I haven't tried this one yet.

Life here is too impatient to endure the municipal controls that burdened the smaller communities I used to call home. And I like it this way. But as is the case with every great adventure, there are also drawbacks.

Every day, the government poses grave threats to our economic liberty — massive tax increases sold in flashy publicly-funded advertising packages that would make most private firms envious. In the aftermath of passing 13 tax-and-fee increases over the last four years, Denver voters are now being asked to foot the bill for nine more at a total cost of more than $550 million.

I'm forced to ask myself: What will stop my neighbors, friends, and fellow coffee shop dwellers from rubber-stamping higher taxes once again when the truth is outmanned and out-funded?

Our lives are filled with constant propaganda preaching the virtues of socialism. Mayors — past and present — eagerly lend their names to such causes. Former Mayor Wellington Webb now drives by his name atop the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Building, a massive monument to contemporary growth in government and home to at least 40 different government agencies. His predecessor, Federico Peña, passes his name on Peña Boulevard every time he drives to the city's airport, a project fraught with concerns about cost overruns.

Government monopolies are not to be outdone. Denver Water advertises across city billboards and in front yards across the city in its "Use only what you need" campaign. And to reward us for our conservation efforts, the city recently raised rates. In advertisements hanging from lamp posts around the city, a campaign promoting Denver Public Schools uses photos of children to promote its agenda. And finally, Xcel Energy sponsors more sporting events than the Monfort brothers.

So who can blame Denver's current mayor, John Hickenlooper, for wanting to get in on a piece of the action? Surely, he's got a building, a street, or maybe even a concert hall destined to carry his name one day.

No stranger to Denver's airwaves, Hickenlooper has become a fixture on evening TV commercials — pleading for more of our money this November as part of his nine-part "A through I" tax-and-bond package.

To achieve a "Better Denver", he points us to his campaign website, brought to us courtesy of a million-dollar budget complete with flashy commercials and full-color brochures. Not surprisingly, this is a campaign that has been funded almost exclusively by the same businesses and public cultural attractions that stand to benefit if taxpayers say yes.

Leading the way has been the city's science museum — shelling out more than $300,000 in cash and in-kind contributions. If Denver voters support measures 1G and 1H, the museum, together with the city's botanic gardens and concert hall, stands to gain more than $130 million in additional funding. Not surprisingly, Hickenlooper's ads never mention the total price tag.

The city will tell you it doesn't have enough money, but while Denver's population has risen less than 2 percent in the last four years, total city spending has skyrocketed by 13 percent. Even without Hickenlooper's tax increases, next year will mark a major milestone for Denver — the city's first billion-dollar budget.

Jessica Peck Corry is a public policy analyst with the Independence Institute in Golden, Colo.

At the same time that Hickenlooper sells us a vision of grand cultural amenities, we know that most Denver families will never be able to afford the going rate of nearly $70 a pop for top seat at the symphony. For them, he assures us that "A through I" are about "catching up" and "maintaining" the city. For this, we're supposed to support a permanent tax increase of $27 million every year to fund capital maintenance.

But we've already given the city a $300 million raise over the last five years. And Hickenlooper's latest plan — coming after a winter of seemingly endless blizzards — fails to address one of our greatest concerns — how to promptly deal with snow left behind. While $150 million is pitched for transportation, the plan doesn't allocate funding for a single new snowplow.

One of the best parts of living in a major western city is the common ethos we share — believing that the people, not the government, should make the important decisions in life. This trust should extend to our wallets. Unfortunately, it's a tough sell when million-dollar taxpayer-funded advertising campaigns preach a continuous message idealizing socialism's grandeur.

Editor’s note: Jessica Peck Corry's weekly blogs are part of a feature on The Denver Post's PoliticsWest.com site called "Diary of a Mad Voter." The group blog, published in partnership with NewWest.Net/Politics, is intended to give a glimpse into the hearts and minds of several independent-minded voters and thinkers in the Rocky Mountain West in the '08 election cycle. Check back regularly at www.politicswest.com for "Diary of a Mad Voter."

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