Petition to put Pueblo sales tax on ballot falls short

The Pueblo City Clerk’s office says a petition drive that would have let voters decide if half cent sales tax money could be used for a Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority Project has failed.

City Clerk Gina Dutcher said 1,978 valid signatures were collected and that 2,239 needed to be collected for the question to be put on the ballot.

Dutcher said the 261 signatures that were thrown out were rejected for a number of reasons, including signers not being registered voters, living outside city limits and illegible signatures.

Pueblo City Council approved a more than $14 million loan to the Urban Renewal Authority for its RTA Project last month.