Local tax issues head for a ballot box in your neighborhood

Transportation projects, flood-repair work and more in the lineup

Voters in the Boulder Valley and Northern Colorado on Nov. 4 will decide on numerous requests by local governments to increase sales and use taxes to fund everything from open space to transportation projects and flood-related repair work.

In Larimer County, the Help Preserve Open Spaces sales and use tax of a quarter-cent, if approved by voters Nov. 4, will extend for 25 years beginning Jan. 1, 2019, when the current sales and use tax expires. The amended measure would evenly split proceeds to cities and Larimer County, while cities used to receive a greater share of the tax to divide among themselves.

The county’s portion of the tax has conserved about 33,000 acres, as well as 83 miles of trail to date at open spaces. The county maintains open spaces such as Devil’s Backbone, Hermit Park, Red Mountain and Horsetooth Mountain.

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Also on the ballot will be a citizen-initiated ballot measure for a one-tenth of one cent countywide sales and use tax to build a new Animal Care and Control Facility. Citizens collected signatures on petitions for the tax-increase proposal to be placed on the ballot.

Another proposed measure would extend the sales and use tax of .15 percent to fund operations of the Larimer County Jail for 25 years. Larimer County commissioners have certified that measure for the ballot.

The .2 tax has been in place for 17 years and provides about $7.5 million in annual funding for medical, equipment, salaries and other expenses. Larimer County commissioners are asking voters to extend the .15 percent operations portion of the tax.

In Boulder, the city council is considering a .3 cent sales and use tax from 2015 to 2018 to fund a variety of capital-improvement projects. Boulder estimates the tax will raise $27.6 million during the three-year period. Projects funded by the tax would include a $2 million investment in residential pedestrian lighting in the Hill and another nearly $2 million for Boulder Creek path lighting and improvements.

Boulder County Commission members have approved resolutions to place on the ballot a flood-recovery sales and use tax and an extension of the mill levy that funds social services.

The flood-recovery sales and use tax of .185 percent would fund costs of repairing public infrastructure, including roads and bridges, restoration of waterways and assistance to residents. Boulder County has spent $40 million through July on flood recovery and response and plans to spend an additional $217 million on recovery during the next five years. The tax would raise a total of 49.6 million to cover most of a $56.1 million funding shortfall not covered by federal and state dollars.

The county also will ask voters to extend a .9 mill ad valorem property tax for another 15 years to fund safety net services for residents. The mill levy generates about $5 million annually for services promoting family stability and help residents through crises. The mill levy equals about $21 per year for a property valued at $300,000.

The city of Longmont, meanwhile, will ask voters to extend a three-quarter cent sales and use tax for 10 years to fund transportation maintenance, operations and improvements. The tax expires at the end of 2016, so if passed by voters it will extend through 2026.

The tax, which has been in place since 1986 and reauthorized in five-year increments since 1994, generates about $12 million annually for roads, bridges, sidewalks, traffic signals and other improvements. The city plans to improve bridges to withstand flooding such as that experienced last September.

“The maintenance, repair and improvement of our entire street and transportation system rely on this tax,” said Holly Milne, spokeswoman for Longmont’s Public Works and Natural Resources department.

Various districts in Weld County have until Sept. 5 to submit ballot content for tax increases or extensions. Multiple entities, including the town of Windsor, are working with the office for measures to appear on the ballot.

Windsor may ask voters to approve a .75-cent sales-tax increase for a $16.1 million expansion of the Community Recreation Center, Town Manager Kelly Arnold said. The Town Board was expected at its meeting Aug. 25 to approve the measure for the ballot.

Steve Lynn can be reached at 970-232-3147, 303-630-1968 or slynn@bizwestmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SteveLynnBW.

A previous version of this story contained errors related to the Larimer County jail tax. The .2 percent tax will have been in place for 17 years when it expires Dec. 31, though Larimer County commissioners are asking that voters extend the .15 percent operations portion of the tax. The $7.5 million in annual revenue raised by the tax funds medical, equipment, salaries and other expenses.