Bennett Fire Sales Tax for Stations and Staffing

Bennett-Watkins Fire Rescue, the operating name of the Bennett Fire Protection District, serves about 9,000 residents in Bennett, Watkins and unincorporated parts of Adams and Arapahoe counties, according to its election brief. Issue 7F adds a 0.75% district sales tax, 75 cents on each $100, to every purchase in the district that the state taxes. Groceries and other exempt items are excluded. Anyone making a taxable purchase in the district pays it, whether or not they live there.

The tax begins July 1, 2027, the district's brief says. The ballot sets the tax increase at $1.2 million for the first full fiscal year beginning that day, and places no dollar limit or end date on the collections that follow. Adams County's TABOR notice lists the district's fiscal year spending at $10,079,135 in 2022 and an estimated $17,848,959 in 2026, an increase of 77%. It estimates spending in the first full fiscal year at $23,856,877 without the new tax.

The question dedicates the money to fire protection, ambulance, emergency medical response, rescue, safety and support services. It lists expanding, remodeling or replacing outdated stations and facilities, keeping firefighter and paramedic staffing levels, recruiting and retaining first responders, and staffing for rising call volume.

The district says it answers nearly 1,600 calls a year from four stations, and that call volume has grown over the past five to ten years, mainly from medical calls. Its brief names the Bennett station at 515 Washington as its top priority for replacement and estimates the cost at $8 million to $15 million. It says the district also needs a Sky Ranch station and a satellite station near Interstate 70. The brief says construction is feasible only through bonds or loans repaid with a dedicated revenue source. Issue 7F does not ask voters to authorize any borrowing.

The companion question, Issue 7G, seeks a waiver of the 5.25% limit that the district says a 2024 state law placed on its property tax revenue. Either question can pass without the other. Both end with the same clause, so a yes on either lets the district collect, retain and spend all district revenues, not only the new sales tax, "notwithstanding any revenue limits provided by law." State law requires a question waiving the 5.25% limit to open with set words, and only 7G opens with them.

The district's presentation deck says both measures must pass to move forward with construction. Its outcome table says that if only one passes, facility improvements are limited and new construction is unlikely with current funding.