Just like the ketchup bottle in most refrigerators, this November’s ballot for Longmont voters is nearly finished.
In Tuesday night’s Longmont City Council meeting, members voted in favor of sending another question on raising taxes to the ballot. Following a 6-1 vote, locals will be asked to approve a measure raising property and sales taxes to fund new jobs for Longmont Public Safety.
Big picture:
LPS needs funding for 86 more jobs through 2036 to alleviate understaffing. The tax is expected to generate more than $20 million.
If approved, Longmont sales and use tax will rise by 0.33%. That means Longmont residents’ total sales tax rates will be 9.195%. Property taxes will jump about $75 on a $500,000 home.
Councilmember Diane Crist was the lone opposing vote who has long opposed raising sales taxes and saturating ballots with an excess of questions.
Longmont City Council was also slated to vote on three resolutions, each of which would urge residents to vote “Yes” on ballot issues. In essence, city council would tell voters where they stand. The issues included a property tax hike to fund childcare subsidies, the aforementioned public safety tax, and strengthening protections for open spaces.
Wrench, incoming…
Despite an impassioned plea from Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring, and strong support for the issue from councilmembers, city council voted not to take a stance on the childcare tax after a narrow vote. However, they will urge voters to approve the public safety tax and the open space measure.
So, what happened?
Councilmember Jake Marsing recused himself from the vote because of a conflict of interest — Marsing is part of the Brighter Start Boulder County initiative leading the charge to get the issue passed. This resulted in a 3-3-1 vote, with councilmembers Matthew Popkin, Alex Kalkhofer, and Diane Crist in opposition.
Popkin noted many locals were dissatisfied with the high number of questions asking voters to raise taxes set.
Since the Front Range Passenger Rail District is deciding on Friday whether to ask voters for funding of Phase 2 of the Colorado Connector project, Popkin and Kalkhofer wanted to table the vote until they know the full scope of taxpayer impact from ballot initiatives.
Crist, on the other hand, is fully opposed to city council telling people how to vote on any topic.
Since Marsing returned to the table for the votes on the public safety tax and open spaces protections, he was able to tip the scales enough to secure city council’s public support for the other ballot issues.
In other news…
City council unanimously voted to approve changing rules to Longmont’ laws regarding short-term rentals. The city will officially test drive a new license that expands who is able to rent out their homes during special events as Longmont anticipates a surplus of demand for lodging during the 2027 Sundance Film Festival. This means…
Primary residences, apartments (with property owner approval), accessory dwelling units, are eligible to be rented out on short-term bases.