Two recent developments should have Mesa County commissioners looking at some aspect of “de-Brucing,” or asking voters to allow the county to retain revenue in excess of limits imposed by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

The first is that the county is preparing to ask voters to approve a sales tax increase to help fund law enforcement. The second is that the county had to forgo a $5 million grant that it would have allocated toward construction of a psychiatric hospital expansion project.

As the Sentinel’s Gary Harmon reported Tuesday, even though the county would simply pass along the grant to Mind Springs, the money would count as revenue to the county, which would then be included in TABOR calculations.

If the county were to accept such a grant, it would likely force a refund to county taxpayers — an ironic twist given that the county asked department heads and elected officials earlier this year to limit spending to 95 percent of what was included in the $57 million general fund for 2017.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.