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Steamboat Springs — Hayden's consideration of becoming a home-rule municipality offers the promise of revenue growth and the autonomy to govern the community as its residents see fit. We applaud town officials for taking on a complicated but important issue.

Hayden is at least a few months and two public votes away from changing its designation from that of a statutory town to one that is home rule, but the idea has the potential to increase town revenues without further burdening residents while also increasing public participation in government affairs. Those two benefits alone should be reason enough for Hayden residents to give strong consideration to home-rule status.

Hayden currently is a statutory town, which means it is governed by - and restricted by - state statutes. Home-rule municipalities are those that have chosen to be self-governing. Home-rule municipalities are governed according to their home-rule charter, which is voted on by the people of that city or town. Steamboat Springs and Craig are home-rule cities.

Achieving home-rule status can offer significant flexibility to a municipality. In the case of Hayden, home-rule status would mean it could levy additional sales taxes, including increasing the general sales tax rate for the town and/or instituting specific sales taxes on items such as car rentals from Yampa Valley Regional Airport and lodging. Hayden residents should be reminded that any and all tax increases first must be approved by a vote of the people.

Becoming a home-rule municipality also would allow Hayden to hold its town elections in November as opposed to in the spring. Voter turnout is likely to increase if town elections are held concurrent with the general election.

Public participation in town affairs could be boosted further if Hayden wrote into its charter that all town ordinances go through first and second readings at Town Board meetings. Doing so would give citizens more time to weigh in on issues before they became law.

Other than sorting through what can be a confusing process for residents to grasp, we don't see a lot of downsides to Hayden becoming a home-rule town. Hayden Town Manager Russ Martin, who deserves credit for pushing the home-rule issue, said shedding its statutory status won't necessarily create additional burdens for the town or necessitate additional staffing. Nor would it impact the town's ability to seek competitive grants.

It's easy to stick with the status quo, and that's all the more reason to applaud Hayden for considering a significant change to its form of governance. Nothing will progress unless it's the will of Hayden residents to do so, beginning with the installation of a Home Rule Charter Commission. Residents will vote March 31 to create the nine-person commission, which eventually would draft the home-rule charter. That document also would have to be approved by a vote of the people.

There are a lot of potential upsides to home-rule status, and we encourage the people of Hayden to take the time to learn about the process and what it could mean for their town. The town's future is in their hands.