[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: CML update from Matt

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Appelbaum, Matt

Colleagues - Here are a few belated updates on a number of meetings and events I've recently been involved with, including the Colorado Municipal League (CML), the National League of Cities (NLC), the US36 Mayors and Commissioners Coalition (MCC), and of course my trip to the COP21 in Paris.  I'll put these into separate Hotline items, beginning here with CML.  And for the new members of council I'll offer a bit of introduction and explanation of these various organizations.

The CML Board, of which I'm a member, has held two meetings in recent months.  Since the legislative session has not yet begun, the Board has focused largely on administrative and planning issues.  The Board has also heard about a number of likely legislative items, formally adopting the recommendations of CML's Policy Committee (on which Suzanne is our representative, along with Carl Castillo until and unless another councilmember takes his place since we get two votes).  I should add that my Board term ends in June.  We'll need to decide if it makes sense for me to run again and see if I can get reelected, or put forward someone else from Boulder; it has been very difficult for us to get on the Board, and I think that four of us have been unsuccessful in the past several years in our runs for the Board (I made it on my second try).

It's important to note that the Board almost always follows the Policy Committee's recommendations, although several of us on the Board have been pushing to give the Board a somewhat greater role in these matters.  That's not to override the Policy Committee - that remains very unusual - but to provide the Board with the same level of understanding, at least on important issues, as given to the Policy Committee (on which a number of Board members, but not all, also serve).  Frankly, I found the discussions at the Policy Committee to be more interesting and thoughtful on legislative issues than at the Board, although that is starting to change a bit.

That said, it's also important to note that the Board becomes the key body at the end of the legislative session, when bills and amendments fly by very quickly and the Policy Committee doesn't have the time to weigh in.  At that point, the Board gets the final word - of course with staff's recommendations in mind - and there is now a process for rapid conference calls as needed.

The Board reviews the performance of the executive director (Sam Mamet) and set his salary, approves CML's engagement in legal issues based on recommendations from the Amicus Committee (city attorneys from around Colorado), sets the agenda for the newly formed research function (something I've weighed in on regularly), approves the CML budget, and sets CML's dues.

It is this final task relating to CML dues that I want to explain a bit here, particularly since I succeeded in effecting a fairly important change.  First, it's important to understand that CML has a rather unusual dues structure, which I not-so-jokingly describe as "socialist."  Unlike most organizations that set dues based on a simple measure like population, CML's dues are based on a somewhat complex formula that includes population, sales tax revenue, and property tax base.  Not surprisingly, Boulder thus pays far more per capita than most cities.  At some point the formula probably will need some revision, but that is not something the Board is interested in pursuing now, and neither am I.  (That said, the three largest cities, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Aurora, have apparently asked for such a review given their high levels of dues, and I suspect we may consider that.)

CML also caps dues increases to 3% or so every year so that no members' dues rise too quickly.  While that sounds reasonable, when I asked how long that cap had been in place I was surprised to find that this has been the case for a very long time...which immediately suggested to me that the dues structure was likely seriously flawed (not sure why nobody else had noticed this...).

In fact, that is the case.  Cities and towns that have been growing quickly over the years have consistently hit the cap, and so over time the compounding effect has resulted in a few dozen CML members - including some that are not so small any longer - paying anywhere from 20% to less than 50% of their actual dues (as calculated based on the formula).  Obviously that is very inequitable, and particularly disturbing when Boulder pays such a large amount.  I brought this up earlier this year, explained it to the Board's business committee, and they considered the issue.

At the Board's November meeting, the business committee reported that they agreed this was a problem but decided not to address it, ostensibly because some of the member cities whose dues would increase significantly might drop out of CML.  Unfortunately Sam Mamet generally supported this recommendation.  I presented my rationale to the Board and we had a very long and rather fascinating and thoughtful discussion.  My friend Mayor Troxell from Fort Collins strongly supported my efforts (although I had not spoken with him previously), and even one of the cities that would be impacted agreed that the inequity needed repair.  I suggested that all CML members get up to at least 80% of their actual dues over the next five years and then stay at least at that level - and to my great surprise the Board overwhelmingly supported that approach.  Not a huge victory, perhaps, but important nonetheless, and indicative of the fact that Board members are willing to listen to each other...even to Boulder!

Other than that thrilling event, there isn't much of great importance to report on yet, but that will no doubt change once the legislative session begins.  And you might have noticed in the CML newsletter that Mayor Troxell and I exchanged gifts from a bet we made on the outcome of the CU/CSU football game.  Those of you who know me will realize that I'm not very likely to bet on football (or watch it for that matter!), but Wade wanted to do it and made the very good case that such a bet would be fun and good for our universities and also for our local food companies, since the reward was to be a basket of such food.  Yes, we won, but it was close, and so we exchanged baskets; much thanks to Ann Large for putting it together for me.

Those of you interested in legislative issues and/or CML should note two upcoming events that you might want to take part in.  The first is CML's annual all-day legislative workshop, which will be held on February 11.  The second is the annual conference, this year being held in Vail from June 21 - 24.  If you're interested in either of these - or anything else regarding CML - just let me know.

--Matt