Bennett Fire Protection District

Tax Limit Waiver With No End Date

Keeping extra revenuePermanent waiver of the 5.25% property tax limit

Waives Bennett Fire's 5.25% property-tax limit for all future tax years and authorizes retention of all district revenues outside legal revenue limits.

Bennett Fire Protection District

Kim's Recommendation

Vote No on Bennett Fire Protection District ballot issue 7G

The state limit caps qualified property tax revenue through a formula based on reassessment cycles and unused growth allowance. Bennett Fire's temporary credit was 5.206 mills in the state's 2025 levy table. Issue 7G lets the board drop that credit without an election, and the district expects about $4 million more a year from property owners at the same mill rate.

The board asked to waive the limit for all future property tax years. A waiver for a set term ends with the term, after which the limit returns unless the board asks the district's voters again, who by then have seen how the money was spent. A permanent waiver asks them once, and from then on the district's collections at its current rate move with property values, with no yearly limit.

I favor limits that hold the growth of what local government collects to a pace property owners can plan around. This limit does that every year, and a no vote keeps it in place.

I recommend a no vote on Bennett Fire Protection District ballot issue 7G.

Kim Monson

Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026

Certified ballot question

SHALL THE BENNETT FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT WAIVE THE 5.25% PROPERTY TAX LIMIT (WITHOUT INCREASING PROPERTY TAXES) FOR ALL FUTURE PROPERTY TAX YEARS, TO MAINTAIN EMERGENCY RESPONSE TIMES, ENHANCE THE SAFETY OF FIRST RESPONDERS AND EXTEND THE USEFUL LIFE OF EXISTING FACILITIES, INCLUDING: (I) ATTRACTING, TRAINING, AND RETAINING EXPERIENCED FIRST RESPONDERS, AND MITIGATING COSTLY TURNOVER RATES; (II) MAINTAINING THE FIRE ENGINES AND OTHER APPARATUS AND IMPLEMENTING A REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE FOR APPARATUS TO REDUCE BREAKDOWNS, ACCIDENTS, AND DOWNTIME; AND (III) ADDRESSING INFRASTRUCTURE AND DEFERRED MAINTENANCE FIRE STATION PROJECTS; AND SHALL ALL DISTRICT REVENUES BE COLLECTED, RETAINED, AND SPENT NOTWITHSTANDING ANY REVENUE LIMITS PROVIDED BY LAW?

A yes vote means

Approves waiving the 5.25 percent property tax limit for all future property tax years, and lets all district revenues be collected, retained and spent notwithstanding any revenue limits provided by law. The district's underlying mill rate would stay the same, but its board could remove the temporary tax credit, increasing the district's share of property tax bills.

A no vote means

Rejects the proposed waivers, retaining the limits this question would remove.

A State Cap on Revenue Growth01

A 2024 state law limits a fire district's qualified property tax revenue by a formula: the highest qualified revenue collected and lawfully retained in a previous reassessment cycle, increased by 5.25% times the number of years in the current cycle, plus any unused growth allowance carried over from the preceding cycle. Revenue from new construction, annexed land and mill increases that voters approve from November 5, 2024, on falls outside the limit. When rising values carry collections past it, the district must apply a temporary tax credit, lower its levy for the year or refund the excess.

The Credit on Bennett Tax Bills02

The state Division of Property Taxation's 2025 levy table lists Bennett Fire Protection District's general levy at 14.553 mills, less a temporary credit of 5.206 mills, worth about $4.7 million, to stay under the limit. The district, which operates as Bennett-Watkins Fire Rescue, says the limit holds its voter-approved rate of 13.152 mills to the revenue of about 9.0 mills, a gap it estimates at $4 million a year.

What a Yes Vote Changes03

Issue 7G waives the limit for all future property tax years, the longest of the three terms state law allows; a waiver for a single year or a set number of years ends with its term. The ballot's words "without increasing property taxes" refer to the district's mill rate, which does not change. Once 7G passes, the board can stop applying the credit without another election. If it does, the district's share of each property tax bill rises by the mills the credit now removes. The question's final clause also lets the district collect, retain and spend all its revenue regardless of any revenue limit set by law.

The question names three uses: attracting, training and retaining experienced first responders; a replacement schedule for fire engines and other apparatus; and deferred maintenance at fire stations.

The Separate Sales Tax Question04

Bennett Fire also asks voters for a new 0.75% sales tax in Issue 7F, and that question ends with the same final clause. The 5.25% limit covers property tax revenue only, and each question passes or fails separately. Station construction needs both measures, the district's brief says; with only one, its outcome table has apparatus replacement slowing to the most urgent needs.

Sources05

Official documents

Arapahoe County official sample ballot, page 2