Town of Eaton debt of $5 million for street projects including three named roads, repaid from existing town revenue

Eaton's Board of Trustees put Issue 2A on the ballot to rebuild in 2027 three roads the town calls its worst, by borrowing against its street tax, instead of saving from that tax and finishing the last of them around 2039. The question would increase town debt by $5 million, with a total repayment cost of no more than $7.9 million, "WITHOUT IMPOSING A NEW TAX OR INCREASING ANY EXISTING TAX."

The debt would finance street improvements and transportation projects, "INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO" maintaining, constructing, reconstructing, repairing and improving three named roads: 10th Street between Highway 85 and Christensen Avenue (County Road 39); Christensen Avenue north of East Collins Street; and South Cheyenne Avenue south of Collins Street. In May, town staff told the board that the three roads need full-depth reconstruction, at $2 million for 10th Street and $1.5 million each for Christensen and South Cheyenne. Those estimates add up to the full $5 million, which the question also lets the town spend on the cost of issuing the debt and any necessary reserves.

The Board of Trustees voted 5 to 1 on August 20, 2026, to refer the question; Trustee Geno Bulzomi voted no. Eaton voters decide it on November 3, 2026. It is the town's only question; Eaton School District RE-2's Issue 4A is separate and does not affect this debt.

The ballot lets the town pledge "ANY LEGALLY AVAILABLE REVENUE OF THE TOWN" to the debt, including but not limited to the 1% transportation sales and use tax voters approved at the 2023 coordinated election. The board's resolution says the debt would be paid from that tax.

Eaton voters passed the street tax 1,052 to 687 in November 2023. The town began collecting it on January 1, 2024, which raised its sales tax rate to 4%, and it reports collecting $1,270,000 from the tax in 2025. The tax has paid for a full reconstruction of County Road 39 (South Christensen Avenue) from East Collins Street to the town's south limit in 2024, and for resurfacing other town streets in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

The town says it would repay the bond at a fixed $380,000 a year for 20 years from the street tax, while still budgeting about $470,000 a year for road maintenance and repair. The ballot leaves the specific terms of the debt to the town "AS NECESSARY AND PRUDENT," names no final repayment year or annual payment, and limits repayment only by its $7.9 million total. The board's resolution says a later resolution would set the terms, and that the bonds may reimburse project costs the town pays before they are sold.

The question allows early repayment with or without a premium of no more than 3%. It lets the town issue new debt to refinance this debt, provided all debt issued under the question stays within the repayment cost it authorizes. In its list of the bond's drawbacks, the town says it expects interest to total $2.6 million, and that fixed payments for 20 years would leave less money for unexpected road needs.

TABOR, the Colorado Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, requires voter approval before the town can create a multiple-fiscal-year obligation such as this debt. A yes vote would also let the town collect, retain and spend the earnings from investing the bond proceeds as a voter-approved revenue change under TABOR and any other state revenue limit.

A no vote rejects the borrowing. The town says the 2023 street tax stays as it is under either result. Without the bond, the town says, 10th Street would still be rebuilt in 2027, while Christensen Avenue and Cheyenne Avenue would wait until around 2033 and 2039. The town estimates the three projects would cost about $5.9 million in future dollars on that schedule, against $5 million in today's dollars with the bond, and says maintenance money may decline in the years it saves for the larger projects.