Fountain seeks to become 7th member of Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority
FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) -- This city 15 miles south of Colorado Springs is going through the process of applying to join the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA), an association of six local municipalities in which residents pay an additional 1% sales tax for road, street and transit improvements.
The PPRTA formed in 2004 after approval by voters in each participating municipality; its members are Colorado Springs, unincorporated El Paso County, Manitou Springs, Green Mountain Falls, Ramah and Calhan.
Of the annual tax revenue, 55% is devoted to capital projects, 35% to maintenance projects and 10% to transit projects.
Last fall, voters in member communities approved extending the capital portion of the tax through 2034; it was the second time that voters passed an extension by a margin of around 80%.
Calhan was the most recent addition to the PPRTA, joining in November 2021.
In a statement to KRDO Tuesday, Fountain Mayor Sharon Thompson explained why the time is right for the city to join the PPRTA.
"The current allocation structure of PPRTA resources to the member communities is better than it’s been in the past," she wrote. "We project that Fountain would receive more than $2 million annually for street maintenance needs and the potential to receive another $3 million annually for street capital project needs. A 1% sales tax will cost a consumer 10 cents on a $10 purchase. Food purchases at grocery stores would be exempt from this tax."
Thompson said that during two weeks in March, the city surveyed 741 voters on the possibility and found that 48% rated the condition of city streets and roads as poor, while 55% said that they would vote in favor of PPRTA membership.
"PPRTA members began approaching Fountain City Council members in 2021 to discuss the possibility of joining," the mayor said. "Fountain began having internal discussions and began fact-finding."
Rick Sonnenburg, the PPRTA's program manager, said that Fountain would receive maintenance funds next year if current member municipalities agree to accept Fountain, and if Fountain voters pass a ballot measure in November.
"Fountain would receive capital funding starting in 2025 only if all PPRTA members approve the city's list of projects in November 2024," he explained.
Some Fountain taxpayers said that they'd like to see any new funding be allocated to improving the crumbling pavement on Highway 85/87 through town.
"The streets are getting no better here," said Karen Hoadley. "Potholes are all over, tearing up our cars. So as long as the money goes to what they say it's going to go for, I'm OK with it."
James White disagreed.
"Being old-school, I don't like increased taxes," he said. "I think we're better off doing more of a levy thing, or a bond, or something that's not going to be continual."
Fountain officials said that PPRTA membership would also allow them to collect some of the $1.2 million in annual sales tax revenue generated by the South Academy Highlands shopping center -- an area that Fountain annexed several years ago.
Sonnenburg said that Fountain hasn't collected sales tax revenue there because the annexation happened after the PPRTA included the property, which was formerly part of unincorporated El Paso County, in the authority's jurisdiction.
"The law doesn't allow an annexation entity to change the existing tax structure," he said "There have been several court cases to uphold that. The state Department of Revenue has been collecting that sales tax."
