Greeley voters reject sales tax increase; Mayor still looking for options

GREELEY — Greeley residents handily defeated a proposed 0.6% sales-tax increase that would help the City of Greeley cover millions in debt service for two major development projects, and cover deferred maintenance on city facilities.

Early results showed Greeley Ballot measure 2F failing with 18,587 against, and 7,908 for, with only 26,495 votes being counted. There are close to 70,000 registered voters in Greeley. Greeley Mayor Dale Hall called the election early with the gap between passing and failing too large to make up. He said Greeley elections typically draw between 25,000 and 30,000 voters.

“Greeley has always been a city that’s not been too heavily into doing a tax increase, so that was a hurdle from the beginning,” Hall said Tuesday night after initial results were posted. “I think we probably should have done a better job of explaining where money was going. … I’ve asked staff before we got the results to come up with a Plan B.

“Next week we’re anticipating an executive session where we can discuss our next steps,” Hall said.

The Greeley City Council put the 0.6% sales tax question – 60 cents on a $100 non-food purchase – on the ballot to help pay debt service on $115 million already spent on planning and infrastructure to make the Catalyst project in west Greeley possible, and on the downtown Civic Campus, as well as cover deferred maintenance on city recreational and cultural facilities.

The tax was estimated to generate $20 million in the first year of collections, which would have easily covered $9 million each in debt service payments for the Catalyst project out west and the downtown Civic Center project.  

Hall said the city will continue to work on both major projects, and said the council may have to try again with another sales tax – allowing time for better explanations to the public on how the money would be used.

“The whole process was a little quick,” Hall said. “The information didn’t get out as easily as it could have been. There needed to be better explanation of what we were trying to do. It’s a potential option to come back next year” with another request.

The major development projects are relying on certificates of participation for funding. Catalyst as proposed, would include a luxury hotel, a Mattel-branded water park and an arena for the Colorado Eagles, the minor-league hockey team owned by Cascadia developer Martin Lind.

While the city would still need to find another source of funding for Catalyst — a project partner, as a top option to develop it — the money spent on pre-development stretches Greeley’s infrastructure beyond the city’s current borders, allowing for future development of any kind, Hall said. The City of Greeley already lost a potential Costco development due to lack of infrastructure out west. Additionally, the north side of U.S. Highway 34 is planned as a massive residential and commercial development.

The downtown Civic Campus is a major reconfiguration of downtown with a new Weld County Justice Center, a new City Hall and a new administration building for Greeley-Evans School District 6, in addition to a boutique hotel and some future apartments.

Opponents of the sales-tax measure believed passing the tax would be on par with giving the City Council a blank check for the next 40 years without stating specifics on how the money would be allocated other than the projects named – no percentages for each project, or dedicated timelines.

Opponents Rhonda Solis and Brandon Wark did not return calls for comment Tuesday night.

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