Deal with Xcel could pay off government debt, save average Hayden taxpayer $1,300 a year
- Dylan Anderson
- 7 minutes ago
- 3 min read
The proposal from Routt County governments seeks $22.7 million to pay off long-term debt held by school district, fire district and town of Hayden.
An $89 million proposal from a collection of Routt County governments to Xcel Energy includes a provision that would see the power company pay off long-term debt currently held by the Hayden School District, West Routt Fire District and town of Hayden.
This payment of nearly $22.7 million across the three governments would wipe out the additional mill levy’s that currently fund payments on this debt and lower property tax bills for residents in these taxing districts, said Hayden Town Manager Mathew Mendisco.
Estimated savings amount to an average of $1,300 a year for residential properties and $1,617 for commercial properties, according to Mendisco’s testimony to the Public Utilities Commission filed earlier this month.
“Could you imagine if overnight we literally pay off all of that and we lower everybody’s property taxes by that much, businesses included,” Mendisco said. “Maybe that would enable them to expand a little, add two more jobs.”
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission will be in Hayden on Thursday for a public comment session on a potential deal that requires Xcel Energy to provide a “just transition” away from coal-fired energy. The requirement to provide this transition stems from the 2019 law that created the state’s Office of Just Transition.
In addition to saving Hayden taxpayer’s money now, Mendisco said paying off this debt could help them better prepare for the future. New taxing measures are often hard to pass in Hayden, but Mendisco said maybe taxpayers are more willing to support new taxes after bonds on the books are paid off.
“Maybe we’ll be able to annex into the [Colorado Mountain College] district and our students will get concurrent enrollment and all the benefits that Steamboat students get,” Mendisco said, giving an example.
Additional taxing measures may be necessary Mendisco said, as Hayden will need to see continued growth over the next decade to make up the property tax hole that Hayden Station’s closure will leave. Even if Xcel were to replace Hayden Station with a similarly sized renewable power generation option, it wouldn’t make up lost property taxes, as renewable power faces a much lower property tax burden than coal-fired energy.
The entire $89 million package proposed by the collection of Routt County governments includes $43.6 million to backfill property taxes to local districts for 10 years. The rest of the deal is filled out with direct payments for economic development, which would fund various potential projects including paying off long-term debt.
Other potential projects could be a workforce development center in Hayden, expansion of water and wastewater utilities, a county solar project, expansion at Yampa Valley Regional Airport, an endowment for the Routt County Economic Development Partnership and some seed money for the Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority.
Xcel’s proposal at this stage, which was included in documents filed with the PUC in October of last year, is quite a bit smaller: $16.3 million in payments over six years.
The PUC will be in Hayden from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Hayden Center to take public comment about Xcel Energy’s Just Transition Plan. There will be light refreshments and a children’s play area provided during this session.
“[The PUC Commissioners] are here to hear comment, but they will not engage in dialogue,” said Joe Pereira, deputy director of the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate during an information session hosted by the Routt County Commissioners on Tuesday.
Pereira said people should expect to have two to three minutes to speak during that public comment session, though it could be more or less depending on how many people show up.
There will be another option to give public comment virtually to the PUC on from 5 to 7 p.m. on June 5. The PUC is expected to make a final decision on Xcel’s Just Transition Plan in August.