Undersheriff Hunsicker Submits Clarification of ‘Decision Memo’ to Starnes in May 7 Communication

Lake City was left startled when a communication entitled ‘Restoring the Office of the Sheriff’ was publicly circulated around Lake City, written by Hinsdale County Undersheriff Jim Hunsicker, and dated April 29, 2025. In subsequent communication received May 7, Hunsicker dubbed the initial letter a ‘decision memo,’ and provided additional information regarding his recent decisions and actions.
The ‘decision memo’ cited Hunsicker’s deep dissatisfaction with Sheriff Denim Starnes and the Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office, calling for Starnes’s resignation no later than Friday, May 9, 2025. Further, it states that should Starnes decline to resign, he could consider his, Hunsicker’s, resignation effective immediately.
This comes after a tumultuous year of resignations, beginning with Sheriff Chris Kambish and Deputy Brennen Pantleo resigning in June of 2024, followed by the resignation of Deputy………….

PICK UP THIS WEEKS COPY OF THE SILVERWORLD TO READ THE FULL STORY….

PLUS….

Discussion Group Finalizing Details for Voter-Approved Lodging Tax Increase

During the workshop portion of last week’s meeting, Hinsdale County Commissioners met with Harry MacKendrick and Lily Virden to discuss specifics on recently passed state legislation which allows voters in Colorado to increase county lodging taxes to a maximum of six percent.
In Hinsdale County, voters approved a two percent lodging tax — equating to an average of $120,000 per year — in 1992. With voter approval as a result of House Bill 25-1247, the tax amount levied by owners of nightly rental properties which they charge their customers could now increase up to four percent, for a maximum of the state limit of six percent with voter approval.
MacKendrick and Virden are part of the informal Lodging Tax Discussion Group which has met on a routine monthly basis since March, 2024. At the April 30 County Commissioners’ meeting attended by Kristie Borchers, Greg Levine, and Robert Hurd, MacKendrick and Virden reassured the county board that the existing two percent county-wide lodging tax would not be altered with its annual dispersement by the commissioner-appointed Hinsdale County Lodging Tax Board to county non-profit applicants for marketing and advertising promotions benefiting the county.
During informal workshop discussion, commissioners learned that upcoming deadlines for a potential ballot question increasing lodging taxes by up to four percent are July 25 for notice of intent to Hinsdale County Clerk Joan Roberts to place a ballot question on the county’s November 4, 2025, coordinated election ballot, and September 4 for specific ballot question wording to be submitted.
MacKendrick, who is a member of the Town of Lake City Planning Commission and active with Hinsdale County Search & Rescue, and Lake City Community School 2nd and 3rd Grade instructor Virden, told commissioners the exact extent of the proposed lodging tax increase — up to four percent — is not yet known but will be decided by the time of Hinsdale Commissioners’ Wednesday, May 21, meeting.
By way of background, over the past 14 months, Lodging Tax Discussion Group has met with or issued invitations to participate to a wide cross section of the community, including Trustees for the Town of Lake City, Hinsdale County Commissioners, Wee Care Board members, Lake City Planning & Zoning, Hinsdale County School District, and owners of lodging and short-term rentals.
Hinsdale County Commissioner Greg Levine has kept in close contact with the process as state legislators discussed and ultimately approved HB 25-1247 allowing voter approval for the lodging tax increase and now on the Colorado Governor’s desk for signature. According to Levine, the impetus for lodging tax increase has received widespread………