Glenwood Springs—Colorado Mountain College hopes to stop the financial bleeding caused by the Gallagher Amendment and keep student tuition as low as possible. The CMC Board of Trustees passed a resolution this week to put a ballot issue before the voters that will allow trustees to adjust the mill levy if needed to keep up with services. CMC spokeswoman Debbie Crawford says the board sees no way around it. She says if voters reject the proposal, CMC will be faced with a budget shortfall next year close to $4,000,000. The Gallagher Amendment, passed in 1982, determines the actual value of property and the valuation for assessment. The bulk of CMC’s funding comes from property taxes. Crawford says the worst case scenario would be asking the students to make up the difference. She says another funding shortage will drastically impact other education programs offered by the college including training for firefighters, police officers, nurses and teachers for rural schools.
