Ballot Issue 2C aims to extend Colorado Springs’ sales tax for road improvements

Colorado Springs voters are deciding this November if the 2C road improvement sales tax that collects 5.7 cents for every 10 dollars will continue.

The ballot proposal would extend the .57 percent sales tax for an additional 10 years, until December 2035.

The sales tax was originally approved in 2015 and renewed in 2019. It is set to expire on December 31, 2025. 

The funds must be used exclusively on paving, preventative maintenance, and concrete work. The city says this allows funding from another tax, the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Advisory (PPRTA), to go toward pothole repairs. Pothole complaints have gone down by 33 percent since 2C road improvements began, the city says.  

Statistics from Colorado Springs show that 2C has allowed for the repaving of more than 1,600 lane miles.

If approved, Circle Drive near I-25 is among the many locations set for repaving. 

In the official TABOR notice from El Paso County, critics of the tax assert that residents already pay taxes for roads. Other critics question prioritization of funds, suggesting the city repairs potholes instead of curbs.

Some citizens have also expressed concerns that the 10-year extension would prevent timely reporting and invites abuse of taxpayer dollars.

Ballot language:

Without imposing any new tax or increasing the rate of any existing tax, shall the existing 0.57% (5.7 pennies on a $10 purchase) temporary city sales and use tax authorized exclusively for road repairs and improvements be extended for a ten-year period after its current expiration on December 31, 2025 to and until December 31, 2035, with all revenues therefrom to be placed in a dedicated fund to be expended only upon road repairs and improvements for:

• Major streets;
• Residential streets; 
• Access roads for parks and open spaces;
• Road construction where severe deterioration does not allow repair;

And providing for citizen advisory committee oversight, the above constituting no changes to the purposes previously authorized, as a continuation of a voter-approved revenue change and exception to any constitutional, statutory, and charter revenue and spending limitations that may otherwise apply?

What each vote means