Editing Mountain View, Colorado (section)

== Economy ==
As of 2024, Mountain View relies primarily on tax revenue from the three dispensaries within the 12 square blocks of town.<ref name="ngazette.com">[https://ngazette.com/planning-the-towns-2023-budget-is-a-group-effort/]</ref> In 2023 the Colorado Department of Revenue reported that Jefferson County, which includes the Town of Mountain View, did over $5.3 million in retail marijuana sales,<ref>[https://cdor.colorado.gov/data-and-reports/marijuana-data/marijuana-sales-reports Marijuana sales]</ref><ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1br_cwfHy24d2R2bcXacb2KarOIBKGrbR/edit#gid=1124953479]</ref> and reported $837,027 in the state share of retail marijuana sales tax.<ref>[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EhlDIrXjJdmg_ob2eMFeN5xtyvTq2jtr/edit#gid=1167615199 marijuana sales tax]</ref> Mountain View's Mayor, Emilie Mitcham, said the following about the 2023 town budget: "We’re lucky to have healthy sales tax revenue, with roughly half of our sales tax income coming from the three dispensaries in town, and the other half from the remaining businesses. Even after necessary salary increases, as well as substantial increases in health insurance spending (we cover 100 percent of the premiums for employees and their dependents), our financial situation is strong. We spend less than we bring in, each year. Fiscally, we are well protected in the event of any unexpected downturn or calamity."<ref name="ngazette.com"/>

With its land area of only 12 square blocks, Mountain View previously had a tiny retail sales tax base from which to raise revenue<ref name=dp20090414/> and relied primarily on [[traffic ticket]]s to pay its police and municipal employees.<ref name=9News20140522>{{cite news |url=http://www.9news.com/story/news/investigations/2014/05/20/9wtk-tiny-metro-town-addicted-to-tickets/9312621/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140520161112/http://www.9news.com/story/news/investigations/2014/05/20/9wtk-tiny-metro-town-addicted-to-tickets/9312621/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 20, 2014 |title=2-part investigation: Town 'addicted' to tickets |author=Jeremy Jojola |date=May 22, 2014 |publisher=KUSA 9News |access-date=March 6, 2015 }}</ref>

The town called an emergency meeting on March 2, 2009, to get input on its future. The town sent a letter<ref>[http://home.att.net/~mvpd/urgent_letter_3_2_09.pdf]{{dead link|date=February 2018|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> to all residents stating that it faced a growing debt crisis, with a budget shortfall between six and eight thousand dollars a month. The letter stated that its police officers had been paid late three times in the last two months, 40 percent of the town's businesses had closed, and that it had petitioned the Attorney General of Colorado to use [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] seizure money to pay police department salaries, which was declined in May 2009.

The letter proposed imposing additional fees for police services and even streetlights, noting in its last sentence that being annexed into a neighboring community was one possible outcome of the fiscal crisis.<ref name=dp20090414/>{{update after|2015|3|6}}