Back in June, we described the county’s response to a budget crisis affecting public safety funding as “government malpractice.”

The idea there was not to dismiss the need for a sales tax increase to hire more deputies and prosecutors, but to highlight an absurdity unfolding before our eyes.

The county had just rejected an opportunity to act as a pass-through agency between the state and Mind Springs Hospital because a $5 million grant would have counted against the county’s revenue cap, triggering refunds to county property owners under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

Shortly thereafter, commissioners authorized a ballot question asking voters to pony up $7 million via sales tax to better fund law enforcement agencies – perfectly illustrating what happens when counties don’t try to mitigate the downward ratcheting effect of TABOR’s mill-levy limitation.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.