Election 2022: Boulder voters favor new climate tax

BOULDER — True to its reputation as a community willing to impose new taxes for progressive causes, Boulder appears ready to implement a new tax on energy consumption to fund climate-change initiatives. 

As of 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 17,581 of city voters were in favor of Ballot Issue 2A, and 7,717 opposed it. 

The new tax, which would raise $6.5 million in the first year and would increase incrementally beginning in year two, would be used to help pay for things such as for wildfire-mitigation efforts, recycling programs, and zero-emissions-building initiatives.

The Boulder Chamber took a neutral position on the issue heading into election season.

“We are with our community on the critical need to address the impacts of climate change,” Boulder Chamber CEO John Tayer told BizWest just after 9:30 p.m. “The concern that we had was that we didn’t see in this initiative an opportunity to partner with businesses to help them meet their climate-protection goals.”

This story will be updated as more votes are tabulated. 

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