Greeley Council drops public safety tax increase from ballot

GREELEY — There’s something to be said about the symmetry of threes. But a ballot with three tax and debt increase questions likely isn’t one of them in Greeley.

Council members on Tuesday convened to make some final decisions on whether to put three tax questions on the fall election ballot, but in the end opted to go only with two — the continuance of a 3% food sales tax, and $65 million in increased debt (without a tax increase) to pay for road and regional transportation improvements. But the council stopped short on going forward with increasing sales taxes by $7 million to pay for public safety related improvements, such as hiring and training more first responders and increasing public-safety wages. Greeley uses its food-tax revenues to fund maintenance for facilities, parks and streets.

With such an anti-tax sentiment that exists throughout the country — not just Greeley — polling showed the council that the appetite for three tax questions on the same ballot would likely spell doom.

The staff will bring ballot language before the council at its Aug. 6 meeting for first reading.

Greeley hired Aspect Strategic to gauge Greeley voters on the topics but found one interesting fact that precluded support for all questions. Of the statistically relevant 500 residents polled, two-thirds were financially overwhelmed;  49% of respondents reported that they struggled to save money and could not handle extra expenses; and 19% said they couldn’t even make ends meet today.

“In recommending to our clients how to think through the viability (of tax increases) we typically like to see numbers at or above 60%, in particular for tax increases,” said Alex Dunn, vice president of Aspect Strategic. “To suggest it could survive a campaign, once people hear both sides. … All of these fall at least somewhat short.”

Among that group, they found that 53% would support continuing Greeley’s food tax, which brought in $10.4 million in 2023. That 53% was the lowest approval ratings since 2020, however; 59% of respondents said they’re support the transportation debt; but only 46% of respondents said they’d support an increased tax for public safety.

As they crunched the numbers tighter, Dunn said appetites further declined.

“Even the most economically secure of the (people polled) are split in half,” Dunn said.

When testing the group on whether they supported all three measures, Dunn said, it got even bleaker.

“We see a deterioration in support for each measure in a scenario in which all three were on the ballot at same time,” Dunn told the council.

Council members unanimously decided to drop the public safety measure given this information. They all said it was a decision they didn’t make lightly.

“I think there is a sentiment out there now with taxes. As I said in past, I’m probably going to be a no, but not because I don’t want to support my (public safety) chiefs,” said council member Johnny Olson. “If we have to go find general funds in the future, I’d rather cut things there. … We’ll find you money to make you whole; that’s our job.”

Mayor John Gates, a former police officer with the city of Greeley, said he too couldn’t support the measure based on polling results.

“It is an extremely tough decision for me to pass on the public safety tax increase, but I’m going to do that for the reasons cited,” Gate said. “… If we bite off too much, we’re going to get strung.”