Colorado Springs will ask voters for money to pay for road repairs and trail improvements in November

Colorado Springs voters will get to decide on two spending issues during a special municipal election in November.

The first will ask voters to approve a .62 percent sales tax increase to be used solely on road repairs and maintenance.

The second will ask voters if the city can keep $2.1 million that it would otherwise have to refund under the Tax Payers Bill of Rights. It says it wants to use this money to improve trails in city parks.

“To a large extent, these questions are going to determine how we move our city forward in the next few years,” said Mayor John Suthers. “Sixty-two percent of our roads are in a state of rapid deterioration, and we’ve heard loud and clear that this is the biggest concern for our residents. It’s also a concern in terms of economic development and attracting new businesses to Colorado Springs.”

Mayor Suthers proposed putting the questions on the ballot, and city council agreed in an 8-to-1 vote.

“Although the interests of our citizens vary, one message is consistent: citizens are tired of the condition of our roads,” said City Council President Merv Bennett. “I agree. Our roads must be fixed. That is why I unequivocally support the Mayor’s proposal. With this ballot measure, the future of our roads is in the hands of the voters,” Bennett said.

The city says that In aformal poll, 58 percent of voters said that if the Mayor and City Council were able to use funds from the existing city budget to pay for necessary stormwater repairs they would be willing to pay a higher sales tax or property tax to be used solely for road repairs. It says that based on a scenario to raise $50 million a year for road repairs, voters preferred funding repairs through a sales tax (69 percent), to a property tax (14 percent).

The city says voters were also polled about whether the $2.1 million in revenues from fiscal year 2014 that exceeded TABOR should be refunded to Colorado Springs residents or if the city should be allowed to retain the funds to be used towards other city projects. It says 69 percent of respondents said they would support the city retaining the excess revenues, and 43 percent selected funding trail improvements in city parks as a preferred potential project.

The City says it exceeded TABOR limits in 2014 due to receiving several post-fire and flood mitigation grants from the State of Colorado.

Regular municipal elections in Colorado Springs take place in April. This special election has been scheduled for November 3 to coincide with the El Paso County 2015 coordinated election.