Sales tax streets idea to require public poll

A plan to raise the city’s sales tax to pay for street improvements gained momentum Friday.

During a work session at the Colorado Springs Airport, Mayor John Suthers joined the City Council and city staff in agreeing to poll voters to weigh sentiment about the tax proposal.

“I’d like to do it in two weeks,” Suthers said.

Suthers said he wants to hear some public opinion before city leaders decide whether to place the matter on the ballot in November.

“Nobody wants to do this, but what is the best way to do it is the right way to go
forward,” Merv Bennett, City Council president, said.

The city revealed three proposals for raising the sales tax — increases of .5 percent, .62 percent and .75 percent — that would generate between $37 million and $55 million annually for between five and 10 years for paving and other street repairs.

The city’s current yearly budget for streets is about $16 million.

Suthers said money from the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority’s 1-cent sales tax, approved by voters in 2004, could be used to maintain streets after they are repaved.

Other funding sources, such as raising property taxes or borrowing money, haven’t been ruled out but aren’t as efficient as a sales tax increase, Suthers said.

“We have an opportunity to meet a real need and we should take advantage of it,” he said.

The work session also addressed the ongoing dispute between the city and Pueblo County over flooding and erosion concerns in Fountain Creek, which flows through both municipalities.

Suthers said Pueblo County had planned to sue the city last month but has decided to wait until Aug. 1.

“They know we have a new mayor and some new council members and want to talk with us first,” he said. “I’ve met with the county commissioners there and I’m hoping negotiation will take care of this.”

At issue is Pueblo County’s belief that the city broke an agreement to spend more money on stormwater projects affecting the creek by ending a special fee for projects.

Pueblo County said it otherwise wouldn’t have granted Colorado Springs Utilities a permit to build part of its Southern Delivery System through the county.

“They want us to spend at least $19 million a year on projects,” Suthers said. “We have $11 million but need to decide where the rest will come from.”

Suthers said streets and stormwater projects both are priorities but that a street initiative on the ballot likely will have more success with voters.

In a related matter, Suthers said the public poll also will ask voters how to best spend a $2.1 million surplus from federal disaster funds as required by the state’s TABOR amendment.

“We could spend some of it on park roads that are in bad shape,” he said.

Suthers said hearing that tourists are complaining about the condition of city streets and roads proves that a plan is needed soon.