Waives the 5.25% property tax revenue limit (10.5% over the two-year assessment period) for East Grand fire district from property tax year 2026 on.
East Grand County Fire Protection District No. 4
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on East Grand County Fire Protection District No. 4 Ballot Issue 6E
Ballot Issue 6E waives East Grand Fire's statutory property tax revenue limit for the 2026 tax year and every future tax year. That ends the statute's requirement for a credit, levy reduction or refund when qualified collections exceed its assessment-cycle ceiling. I favor keeping that limit on East Grand Fire's collections.
State law already leaves a path open for a district that needs more money. Added mills that voters approve at an election held on or after November 5, 2024, fall outside the limit, and the board's minutes say the district has not pursued a mill levy increase in more than 20 years. It removes this limit on how fast collections from property already on the rolls can grow on the district's mill levy, without the district first asking voters for new mills. I oppose letting collections on the current levy grow past the limit in every future year without another vote of the district.
I recommend a no vote on East Grand County Fire Protection District No. 4 Ballot Issue 6E.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL THE EAST GRAND COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 4 WAIVE THE 5.25% PROPERTY TAX LIMIT (10.5% LIMIT FOR THE TWO-YEAR ASSESSMENT PERIOD) ESTABLISHED IN SECTION 29-1-1702, C.R.S., FOR THE PROPERTY TAX YEAR COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2026 AND ALL FUTURE PROPERTY TAX YEARS?
A yes vote means
From the 2026 property tax year onward, the district would be exempt from the statutory limit on qualified property tax revenue that the ballot describes as 5.25%, or 10.5% for the two-year assessment period.
A no vote means
The limit would keep applying to the district.
The State Limit on Revenue Growth01
Since the 2025 property tax year, state law has limited the district's qualified property tax revenue using a reassessment-cycle calculation. For a two-year cycle, the ceiling uses a qualified-revenue base from a previous cycle, increased by 10.5%, plus any carryover from unused growth. Ballot Issue 6E would lift that limit for this district, waiving "the 5.25% property tax limit (10.5% limit for the two-year assessment period)" for the property tax year commencing January 1, 2026, and all future property tax years.
When revenue would exceed the limit, the statute directs the governing body to enact a temporary property tax credit or temporarily reduce its mill levy; a district that does neither must refund the excess. Section 29-1-1701 leaves several sources outside the limit, among them revenue from new construction, from annexed or newly taxable property, from specific ownership tax, and from added mills that voters approve in an election held on or after November 5, 2024.
What a Yes Vote Changes02
Under section 29-1-1704, when a majority of voters approves a waiver, the district is not subject to the limit for the years they approved, which for 6E has no end date. A yes vote ends the credit, levy cut or refund the statute otherwise requires when qualified revenue at the district's levy grows faster than the limit.
The district's 2026 transparency notice lists a levy of 5.873 mills, including 0.012 mills for abatements, for taxes levied in 2025 and collected in 2026. It lists 2025 budgeted tax revenues of $4,072,364 (unaudited) and 2026 budgeted tax revenues of $4,316,326.
East Grand Fire's Sales Tax Question03
East Grand Fire's other question, Ballot Issue 6D, seeks a 0.28 percent sales tax that raises district taxes by $875,000 annually from January 1, 2027 and by whatever additional amounts it raises after that, in addition to all other district taxes. Ballot Issue 6E deals only with the property tax limit, and its text does not refer to 6D.
The Board's Funding Outlook04
Projections the board reviewed on June 24, 2026, say "maintaining the current mill levy could result in operating deficits by approximately 2030 to 2032, while implementation of a 0.25% sales tax could extend the District's long-term financial stability." The minutes note that the district "has not pursued a mill levy increase in more than 20 years."
The East Grand Fire Protection District #4 agenda for its August 19, 2026 board meeting lists action items calling a November 3, 2026 special election on a referred measure waiving statutory property tax limits, but gives only resolution titles and no ballot letter, wording or figures.
