Glenwood Springs City Council voted to approve a ballot question that would renew and raise the city’s street tax during Thursday’s regular session.  

The question, which will appear before voters in the November election, would determine the fate of the city’s infrastructure fund. The resolution to set the ballot language passed 6-1, with Councilor Jonathan Godes voting no. 

The city’s existing street tax is set to expire in December 2026, which passed in 2015 and is collected as a half-cent sales tax. The tax is used to fund the repair, reconstruction and maintenance of existing streets, alleys, curb, gutter and sidewalks, as well as to repair, replace and maintain underground utilities like water and sewer. 

---

---

Glenwood Springs Community on the Move, an ad hoc committee under the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, has been working with the city to recommend the ballot language to extend and raise the sales tax.

Based on the city’s 20-year plan to maintain and reconstruct all streets and underlying infrastructure, the committee recommended that city council place a one-cent sales tax measure on the November 2024 ballot. 

---

---

This measure would double the existing half-cent sales tax for the next 20 years, with the allocation of a set 25% of the revenue for utilities under the streets and 75% for surface work (a distinction not included in existing tax). 

In Colorado, all tax increases must be approved by voters as part of the state’s TABOR law. For TABOR purposes, the city identified $5 million as the maximum amount of collection for the first year of the tax extension, which would begin in 2025. The $5 million only considers the predicted amount earned from the additional half-cent, not the whole tax combined. 

“The city has to estimate what the tax might generate,” Community on the Move Chairman Mike McCallum told the Post Independent. “And they go way above it because if they’re underneath that, they may have to figure out a way to rebate it. Imagine trying to rebate part of the sales tax to every visitor we’ve had that year.” 

The increase would bring Glenwood Springs’ current sales tax rate of 8.6% (which is made up of the total of state, county and city sales tax rates) to 9.1%. Glenwood Springs already has the highest sales tax rate in the county; with Rifle, New Castle and Parachute holding 8.15%, 8.2%, and 7.65% tax rates respectively. Compared with neighboring municipalities, however, Glenwood’s sales tax would still be lower than Snowmass (10.4%), Aspen (10.3%) and Vail (9.4%).

The increase to 9.1% would also put Glenwood Springs in the top 6% of municipalities with the highest tax rates, according to a written comment from resident Gary Vick, who gave public comment at the meeting. 

“There are (14) cities out of over 200 cities in the state that exceed 9.1% under this calculation … Many of these cities are resorts that are poor comparisons to Glenwood,” Vick wrote. 

“This is not a ‘want’ ask for our community, this is an absolutely needed ballot question to ensure funding for our local streets and underlying infrastructure,” McCallum said in a presentation to council.

A survey from May “showed strong support” for a one-cent sales tax, according to a Committee on the Move letter of recommendation to city council. Roughly 67% of 216 respondents voted yes. 

“This approach is popular to voters that want a comprehensive solution that addresses not just road repairs but also replaces aging infrastructure, like water and sewer pipes,” the letter states. 

Council contentions over a sunset clause

Community on the Move recommended that a 20-year sunset clause be applied to the ballot, requiring for the tax to be reassessed and adjusted to future needs, “preventing indefinite taxation without community consent.” Sunsets are tax code provisions that expire at a given date. 

“If we were to ask around and explain there’s a specific end date, then we might get additional support,” McCallum said. “I think if we told everybody that this is a perpetual ‘forever tax’ that we have to pay, I don’t think that would garner any votes.” 

McCallum added that in the 40 years that Community on the Move has helped pass ballot measures they believed were helpful for the community (since 1981), nearly all of them had a sunset. 

“It gives people the opportunity to revisit and say, ‘How did you do with this tax in the past? Did you do a good job?’ If not, they may not support it. If we did, then they probably (will) support it,” he said. 

Councilor Erin Zalinski said the yearly budget will be published and available to the public, with information on how the funds were spent. 

Godes said he did not agree with approving a sunset for the tax, citing the opinion of polling firms like Colorado Polling Institute and Magellan Strategies. 

“They say this does not matter, it’s a political non-factor,” he said. “You’re (Community on the Move) not going to be around in 15 years when we have to go back to the community again, or in 30 years … That’s not something I want to have to repeat … Not when there’s no study or evidence that it matters at all.” 

Mayor Ingrid Wussow and Councilor Sumner Schachter replied to Godes’ statement by reiterating their trust in the recommendation of Community on the Move, noting the organization’s nearly 100% success rate with sunsets. 

Ballot measure benefits

Community on the Move listed several reasons for supporting the measure in their letter to city council, two of the more notable reasons being sustainable budgeting and shared responsibility. 

“A dedicated one-cent sales tax allows for sustainable budgeting. It is the only steady, dedicated and reliable revenue stream for streets and long-term planning and execution of essential projects, avoiding piecemeal funding or emergency measures,” the committee’s letter states. “At just one penny for every dollar spent, the cost is minimal. Both residents and visitors who enjoy Glenwood Springs share the responsibility, so the burden doesn’t fall solely on locals.” 

McCallum added that tourists and non-residents would be paying for more than half of the fund, which he felt was fair to residents. 

“The sales tax is paid by everybody that stops in town and spends money,” he said. “There’s only a few ways you can raise revenue in order to keep up with your streets, and that could be property tax or sales tax … With sales tax, a good portion of it is paid by non-residents, which helps us out. And they should, because they use the streets, they use the water system and sewer system.” 

In a follow-up email to the Post Independent, Vick argued that the assumption that tourists would pay for more than half of the fund still wouldn’t alleviate the financial contribution from residents.

“We tax ourselves, too. A good portion of Glenwood citizens pay our sales taxes. It is not appropriate to adopt a resort-style taxation structure in Glenwood when we are not, in fact, a pure resort town,” Vick wrote.

The city’s support for the tax comes from the need for “significant repairs and upgrades to allow for safe travel for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicular access. Along with improved drainage facilities, water quality features added to the storm sewer system, and improved and upgraded water and sewer facilities within the rights of way,” according to Resolution 2024-25. 

“If we want to have streets that serve our community better and are not full of potholes and are not crumbling, then we need the money to get that done and to do it well,” Councilor Shelley Kaup said. “The current funding that we have … just doesn’t quite handle that.”

If passed by voters, the tax funds would be dedicated exclusively to existing streets and underlying infrastructure (meaning funds couldn’t be used for new streets like South Bridge, according to McCallum). Campaigning for the ballot question will be led by members of Community on the Move. 

“The goal is to truthfully communicate and educate the critical need, benefit, and cost to maintain our streets and infrastructure below the streets,” the letter states.