Pueblo Mayor proposes sales tax measures to address city budget deficit
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - A new sales tax initiative could be coming to your ballot in the city of Pueblo. In fact, four sales tax initiatives proposed by Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham could total 1%, or a penny on each dollar spent, if passed.
Each tax would have its own question on the ballot for a .25% sales tax. There are four different buckets being proposed by Mayor Graham: road infrastructure, parks and recreation, non-departmental groups and Pueblo fire services and technology.
"One of the ideas that we're floating is a .25% for our parks, pools, and programs, .25% for roads and infrastructure, .25% for non-departmental, non-department requests and nonprofits, and .25% for fire and technology. So it would really allow the citizens to vote and pick the taxes that they want to approve," explained Mayor Heather Graham.
The mayor says this will let you vote on where you'd want your money spent for the city instead of taking a 1% sales tax for the general fund, letting the city determine where the money would be best spent.
She says she understands that this can look like a lot of initiatives and could be overwhelming for voters, but she hopes this will help them to choose where they want the money allocated.
"They'll be very specific and tailored to different specific parts of the city's budget that people want to see continued funded, and maybe not cut. If everything stays the way that it is this year, as it was last year, the city is going to be facing another $10 million deficit," said Mayor Graham.
The mayor says the city can only reduce staffing to bridge that gap before quality-of-life services are affected; specifically, she cited the tennis program.
"Each 0.25 percentage based off of 2024's numbers would generate anywhere from 5 to $6 million," said Mayor Graham.
Graham explained how last year they asked each non-departmental group, such as the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR), the Pueblo Zoo, the nature center, the chamber, State Fair and the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo Authority Board (HARP), to take a 15% cut.
"So that was difficult. People who want to continue to see those services and want to have those amenities in our community, unfortunately, you're going to have to pay for that," the mayor continued, "City sales tax has not been raised in 50 years. So it's quite impressive that the city's been able to continue the services that we have been."
The initial Pueblo city sales tax was imposed in 1972 at 3% and raised to 3.5% in 1985. However, Pueblo residents pay a total of 7.6%. The breakdown consists of 3.7% for the city tax, 2.9% for the state tax, and 1% for the county tax, according to the city.
As far as the fire department and technology measures go, the mayor says there are multiple fire stations that are under their expected standards, needing updated gear and improvements. The technology would be a separate piece in the same measure. The mayor says this is not about new cell phones and computers; instead, it's about investing in broadband and IT.
"For the city to continue to run the real-time crime center, everything to have that, that top-notch level when it comes to IT, it's very costly, to our community, to the citizens. So, I tried to really get it to the budget and pick line items that will affect the citizens," said Graham.
The mayor mentioned the .2% public safety sales tax, which initially passed in 2018 and was renewed for 5 years in 2022, to help fund the police department.
"I think, you know, police are taking care of, right now, but you have other departments that also offer quality-of-life services, emergency services, that aren't going to be taken care of come 2028," warned Mayor Graham.
The mayor tells KRDO13 right now there's about $1.2 million in the reserve. Graham says they have cut everywhere they can at this point. She outlined how this deficit could lead to additional cuts for the community in the coming years.
"That's if everything stays the same for 27. Right? So, in 2028, when you're carrying that, that 10 million, we're not going to have any reserve to budget into. So, you're talking 8 or $9 million in services that we're going to cut, which is people. So I mean, 80 to 90 to 100 good-paying jobs. In our community, it can be public safety, it could be fire, or general service employees. It will have to be looked at as an overall, but all services in the city will have to take some kind of cut for 2028. If we don't have any reserve to budget into," explained Graham.
She says her office will continue to hold town halls to speak with residents about the budget and the proposed sales tax measure. Mayor Graham is encouraging neighbors to reach out to her office, speak at the city council, and join in on the budget discussions. She says it is very preliminary, and the measures have not yet been drafted.
Mayor Graham said ultimately it will be up to the city council to approve the proposed measures before they can be put on the ballot. She says they'll be brought before the council in August.
It's also worth noting that the Pueblo Zoo has brought forward a sales tax initiative of its own. If the non-departmental .25% sales tax introduced by the mayor is passed, that would also, in part, go to the zoo.
"It's a lot of things people are going to have to decide, you know, where do they want the one-fourth of their penny to go? But, you know, if it does go to the city's .25 for the non-departmental. The zoo is a non-departmental of the city, so for the zoo, I think it's a Win-Win. Whether one of them passes, it's going to help them out significantly," said Graham.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: The next Pueblo Zoo funding request is coming at the ballot box; how did we get here?
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