Aurora sales tax for roads, bridges and traffic safety

Ballot Issue 3C would authorize up to $108 million in revenue bonds for purposes "INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO" traffic, intersection and pedestrian safety improvements, major bridge replacements, and roadway improvements and expansion. It would also create a city sales and use tax for January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2057, with the money set aside "TO PROVIDE FOR TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE OPERATION OF AND REPAIRS, MAINTENANCE, AND IMPROVEMENTS TO CITY TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES." Repayment could come from that tax, pledged as security, and from "OTHER LEGALLY AVAILABLE FUNDS," on interest, maturity and other terms the City Council sets. Under the question's last clause, Aurora could collect, retain and spend the full revenue from the tax, and the earnings on investing it, "NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LIMITATION IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION, STATE LAW OR THE CITY HOME RULE CHARTER."

Aurora voters will see three separate Build Up Aurora questions, each for a different sales tax and bond issue: 3A for community facilities, 3B for public safety and 3C for transportation. The question appears on the Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas county ballots.

Ordinance 2026-30, which sends the question to voters, passed its final reading on June 22. Mayor Mike Coffman abstained, and every other council member voted yes.

The question names no projects; the city names five for the transportation bonds on its Build Up Aurora page. The largest, at $37 million, would replace the Peoria Street bridge over Sand Creek in Ward I, which the city says is at the end of its life, with a wider six-lane bridge, improved sidewalks and connections to the Sand Creek Trail. Another $34 million would build a four-lane section of Gun Club Road between Quincy Avenue and Aurora Parkway in Ward VI, with signal upgrades and "multimodal and safety improvements."

A $25 million package covers 31 smaller projects in every ward. The city lists 13 under its Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program, eight school crossing and accessibility improvements, three roundabouts, two new and three rebuilt traffic signals, a signalized trail crossing and one intersection converted to three-quarter movement. The list closes with $7 million for missing sidewalk segments and curb ramps, and $1 million for trails and road access at the Aurora Reservoir. With a $3,475,000 contingency, the transportation program totals $107,475,000 in the city's May 18 study session presentation.

The companion resolution the council passed on June 8 in support of all three Build Up Aurora questions says the projects "will improve safety, relieve congestion, and benefit economic growth," Sentinel Colorado reported.

The May 18 presentation counted $2.08 billion in capital needs in the city's draft 10-year Capital Improvement Master Plan, $596.2 million of it for transportation infrastructure, and described them as projects "that exceed what the city can afford to complete in its annual budget." A task force the council created in July 2024 set priorities among those needs and recommended the first round of projects.

In November 2014, Aurora voters rejected Ballot Issue 2B, "ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION NEEDS," a 1.685-mill property tax through 2029 that would have raised $4,991,000 in its first full fiscal year to acquire, build, repair and maintain transportation infrastructure. The vote was 63,863 against and 34,587 for.

The Denver Post counted five failed tax proposals in Aurora since 2005.

The May 18 presentation forecasts that the program's sales and use taxes will exceed its yearly debt service, with the surplus paying for additional capital improvements and repairs and for bond program and project management services. The TABOR notice sets the maximum annual repayment cost of 3C's bonds at $12,940,000, the same figure as the tax's estimated first full year, and the presentation says its repayment estimates include capacity for interest rate volatility. Among the program's proposed terms it lists "future bonding capacity without raising taxes (potential 2031/2032 authorization)." The task force's mid-term recommendations, posted on the city's Build Up Aurora page, include keeping the financial plan flexible "to allow for a potential new authorization of bonds without a new tax increase."

In the TABOR notice, supporters argue that many of Aurora's "heavily traveled roadways and bridges need immediate repair and maintenance," and that a growing population needs updated infrastructure. They point to traffic calming, school crossings, traffic signals, roundabouts and new sidewalks as safety work for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, and to "long-deferred capital needs identified through extensive public engagement."

Opponents argue that the proposal "would address only part of Aurora’s infrastructure needs" and call for a clearer long-term strategy that includes expanding the city's retail tax base. They question the scope and allocation of the spending and the transparency of project selection, and say spending should be reduced and essential services prioritized before seeking more revenue, naming higher developer capital expansion fees among the alternatives.