Letter to the Editor: Mill levy conundrum

Dear Editor:
From one concerned (and truthfully overwhelmed) taxpayer, business owner and special district board member; I attended a recreation district board meeting along with several other business owners from our small town. The group was inspired by Becky Dunham with special interest being brought forth by her and all our interest in the Range Call event, committee, and the possibility that this long-standing, well-attended, historic event is having trouble making the bottom line balance.
This committee is trying to raise support for the numerous events that Range Call now covers. They are going to independent businesses, government entities, banks, corporations, special districts and frankly, anyone they can think of in a sort of desperate attempt to keep this age-old, business-supporting, historic event from being lost due to a shortage of funds.
It was mentioned by an attendee of this meeting, Bryce Purkey, that possibly the committee should, in step with our local economy, try to lower some of the largest costs of this affair (i.e. the concert, the dances, things that have been added in recent years that may not be necessary to keep the tradition alive) and carry forward with respect for the “legend” we have been handed from our founding fathers.  The only member in attendance, Jason Dunham, to my limited knowledge, had only the response of …those things are arranged in October so we can’t make changes now. (Not a direct quote, but what I heard.)
It seems to me if the funds aren’t available, and therefore not paid, these things would be canceled one way or the other.
To finish my thought, and help you understand why I titled my letter the way I did,  I would now like to address the issue (and it is a big one) of taxes, mill levies and our local governments involvement in this and the “special districts”  that came about thanks to Senator Bruce and the Tabor Act. The intent may have been to save taxpayers money but I believe most of us now see that that was not its effect. 
My one suggestion for us, as we can’t change this without an actual act of state congress, is that at some point (and this may be just a dream) the special districts’ board members, county commissioners, concerned citizens, and anyone I have forgotten, get together so we can compare apples to oranges, look at the mills assigned to each and sensibly address what can be done by each entity to address the taxation on business properties that currently threatens to close many of these businesses which makes this all a moot issue.
Just a suggestion.
Sharon L. Purkey
Meeker