Voters in two Colorado counties to decide transportation funding questions
Transportation funding is a topic of multiple local measures on fall ballots in the state of Colorado.
Ballot question rejected one year ago
El Paso County voters will again decide on a question that would benefit transportation work.
In 2021, county voters rejected a ballot question to use about $15 million in surplus revenues from Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue funds largely for transportation work.
Colorado law now caps revenue under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. In place since 1992, TABOR requires voter approval for all new taxes, tax rate increases, or tax policy changes that result in increased tax revenue.
About $13 million would have been devoted to 17 roadway improvement projects. The remaining amount would have been used for other work that includes parks and trails.
As a result of the transportation funding question’s failure, property owners received a rebate from TABOR surplus revenues on their property taxes.
2022 ballot question
Voters in El Paso County will decide whether to extend a 1-cent sales tax for regional and multimodal road projects.
Specifically, the revenue would be used to fund the Pike Peak Rural Transportation Authority. The regional agency builds and maintains roads throughout the state’s most populous county.
County voters initially approved the tax in 2004, and extended it in 2014.
Tax funds through the years have been used for projects that include the Interstate 25 “Gap” widening between Monument and Castle Rock.
The transportation funding tax in the county that includes the city of Colorado Springs is scheduled to sunset in 2024. The extension would authorize tax collection through 2034.
Supporters say the tax is estimated to generate up to $1 billion over the next decade.
Most of the tax revenue – 55% – will continue to fund capital improvements. Another 35% would be used for maintenance work. The other 10% would go to transit.
The ballot question will include a list of capital projects such as connecting the north terminus of Powers Boulevard with Voyager Parkway and I-25. The project has a $120 million price tag.
Boulder County
Ballots in Boulder County also will include a transportation funding question.
The county has collected a transportation tax since 2001. The 0.1% countywide sales and use tax has paid for paving roadway shoulders, intersection safety improvements, regional trails, and pedestrian underpasses.
The tax is set to sunset in June 2024.
A question on the upcoming fall ballot will ask voters whether to extend the tax to pay for maintaining and improving existing transportation infrastructure.
Most of the revenue – 55% – would be used for roadway safety. Specifically, money would be used for road shoulders, flood resilience and creek restoration, intersection safety, and mountain road repair.
Supporters say that without the extension the county will be forced to terminate many of the existing transit services and mobility programs to route available funds for basic maintenance of existing roads.
They add that extending the tax would allow the county to leverage $390 million in state and federal grant dollars for local projects. LL
More election coverage
Keith Goble, state legislative editor for Land Line Media, keeps track of transportation ballot questions across the U.S. Here are some recent articles by him.
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