City of Creede

Creede Bill Payment Notices Without a Newspaper

Government structurePublication of city payments

Asks Creede voters whether the city may stop publishing its bill payments and contract statements in a newspaper, so long as they are available online or by other electronic means and for physical inspection at the city clerk's office.

City of Creede

Kim's Recommendation

YES

Vote Yes on City of Creede Referendum 2B

I support Referendum 2B because it keeps the list of whom Creede pays, and for what, in front of residents while ending a printing requirement the state lets towns drop by election. The question conditions the change on the payments and contract statements being available online or by other electronic means and for inspection at the City Clerk's office, and the recitals of Resolution No. 26-27 state that the board shall post them on a website.

A resident who wants to follow Creede's spending would look to a record kept electronically and at the clerk's office in place of a newspaper notice after each meeting. When residents can still see whom the town paid and why, limited government means the town need not keep paying for a notice its trustees call a significant cost.

I recommend a yes vote on City of Creede Referendum 2B.

Kim Monson

Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026

Certified ballot question

Shall the City of Creede be permitted to not publish in a newspaper of general circulation proceedings relating to payment of bills and statements of contracts so long as such information is available online or by other electronic means and by physical inspection at the office of the City Clerk?

A yes vote means

Creede could stop printing proceedings on bill payments and contract statements in a newspaper, so long as the information stays available online or by other electronic means and at the city clerk's office.

A no vote means

Creede would keep publishing those proceedings in a newspaper of general circulation.

A Notice After Every Meeting01

Section 31-20-202 of the Colorado Revised Statutes requires a town board to publish its bill payments, "stating for what the same are allowed, the name of the person to whom allowed, and to whom paid." It must also publish a statement concerning all contracts awarded and rebates allowed. The notice runs within twenty days after each regular or special meeting in a newspaper of general circulation published in the town, or in the nearest one in the county if the town has no reliable newspaper. A mayor, trustee or clerk who fails to publish faces a fine of $25 to $300, plus the costs of the suit, for each offense.

How a Town Can Opt Out02

Subsection (1.5) lets a city or town decide by election not to publish these bill payments and contract statements, and a town whose citizens choose that "may provide an alternative for distribution of the information." Once a town has opted out by election, the fine no longer applies to its mayor, board members or clerk.

A yes vote on 2B takes that option with a condition printed in the question: the information must be "available online or by other electronic means and by physical inspection at the office of the City Clerk." If 2B fails, the statute's newspaper notice after each meeting still applies to Creede.

Why the Trustees Referred It03

Four trustees voted aye and none nay on August 4, 2026, when the board adopted Resolution No. 26-27 to send 2B to the November 3 special election. The recitals give cost as the reason, calling the expense of publishing these proceedings significant and offering them virtually or at town hall a way to reduce it substantially. The recitals also state that the board "shall post payment of bills and statements concerning the City of Creede's contracts on a virtual link or website" and make them available for inspection and copying at the clerk's office during normal business hours. The resolution's numbered sections set the ballot question, allow further ballot measures and direct the city's officers and employees to carry it out. At the same meeting the board referred Referendum 2A, Resolution No. 26-26, which asks whether it may publish new or proposed ordinances by title only under C.R.S. § 31-16-105.

Sources04

Official documents