The tally from last night’s city council vote on reducing the sales tax vendor fee.

I usually refrain from commenting on issues dealing with the City of Thornton itself as I have learned that politics, even on the local level, can be a nasty affair.  My commentary on city affairs in the past has impacted other, non-related endeavors which is of course entirely unfair but a sad reality.

Nevertheless, after watching the video from last night’s council meeting, I have to comment.  Among other things, the city was considering a measure which would reduce the sales tax vendor fee that businesses retain as an incentive for collecting and returning sales taxes.  Click here to view the text of the measure.

Even for most small businesses in Thornton, the fee is pretty negligible but in these tough economic times, every penny does count.  The changes council voted on and approved last night would cost the average small business in Thornton $13.00 per year and overall, all Thornton businesses an average of $79.00.  The top 50 businesses like Wal-Mart and others will lose out on $1,500 per year.  The end result is that the city adds an additional $300,000 or so to its coffers – again, not a lot of money.

As a small business owner in Thornton myself (a VERY small one), I really am kind of ambivalent on the issue.  The money lost by business and gained by the city is a small amount.  For the city, with a budget of $200 million, $300,000 is a drop in the bucket.  I tend to believe the money is best left in the hands of business, especially with the current economic situation and the policies of our president putting a strain on businesses.

One city resident and candidate for a seat on city council in Ward III, Brian Thornton, has been making a lot of waves in the city over this issue and a previous one related to business and political candidate access to city events.  Mr. Thornton is motivated and would seem to truly want to do the right thing but his means and methods have a habit of rubbing folks the wrong way.  In a short period of time he has managed to make everyone from city council and city staff to even folks in his own party more than a bit uncomfortable.  Certainly stirring up the status quo is not a bad thing but I think Mr. Thornton needs to evaluate his methods.  You can read more about Mr. Thornton’s view on this issue on YourHub here.

At last night’s meeting Mr. Thornton made a plea for council to vote no on the vendor fee measure.  Councilperson Carol Beckler took the opportunity to let Mr. Thornton have it ending her comments by telling Mr. Thornton, “if you’re so unhappy here, rather than run for office, I think it would nice if you moved to Ft. Collins or Westminster and we won’t miss you.”

Wow!  Whether or not one agrees with Councilmember Beckler, saying that on city-wide television may not have been the best choice. 

Councilmember / Mayor Pro Tem Steve Lebsock and Mayor Erik Hansen followed up with commentary trying to cool things down and reminding folks that right or wrong, citizens have a right to speak.  Hansen played peacemaker saying, “I don’t think we want to turn this into a pissing match, Council.  <snip> We should be treating folks with respect regardless if their facts are straight or regardless of whether we agree or disagree with their position.”

Beckler did later say, “I apologize for getting mad.”

In the end the measure passed with Hansen, Lebsock and Councilperson Beth Humenik the only dissenting votes. 

Lebsock did not necessarily oppose the merits of the measure but did reasonably point out that the city had a Business Advisory Council and that the community and business leaders on that board should have had an opportunity to weigh the issue and voice their opinion.  It is hard to disagree with that. 

For his part, Mayor Hansen reminded council that businesses are the ones that bring in the tax money that the city lives (and dies) by and that create the jobs that we desperately need.  He said, “I would rather have it [the money] in the hands of the private sector than with the government.  <snip> I don’t think it’s very fair to tighten our belts a little bit less and ask businesses to  tighten their belt a little bit more which is essentially what this resolution does.”

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