Edgewater asks for a half-cent city sales tax for sidewalks, curb ramps and other mobility work

Issue 2K would raise Edgewater's city sales tax rate by one-half percent, from 3.5% to 4%, beginning January 1, 2027, for accessibility and mobility work such as sidewalks, curb ramps, crossings, bike lanes and streets. The added tax is 50 cents on a $100 taxable purchase. The state's January 2026 rate table (DR 1002) lists five taxes on a purchase in Edgewater, 8.00% today and 8.50% with Issue 2K: 2.9% state, 1% Regional Transportation District, 0.1% Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, 0.5% Jefferson County and 3.5% city. The table lists no food exemption for the city or county tax, so groceries, which the state and the two districts exempt, now carry 4.0% in Edgewater and would carry 4.5%. The question sets no end date.

The City Council referred the measure through Ordinance 2026-15, passed 5 to 1 on August 18. The question states the increase as $1,200,000 in 2027, its first year, plus whatever the tax raises in later years, and the city gives the same figure as its estimate of the first year's maximum in the county's TABOR notice, dated September 23. The notice puts the city's 2027 fiscal year spending without the new tax at $10,400,000, also a city estimate. The city's 2025 audit report says sales tax revenue fell 8.57% from 2024, to $8,502,088.

The revenue from the added half percent is to be used "SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSES OF INCREASING AND IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY AND MOBILITY THROUGHOUT THE CITY." The question names sidewalks, bike lanes, streetscaping, streets and alleys and their repair and replacement; ADA-required improvements to curbs, crosswalks, sidewalks and other city facilities; and education, training and outreach. The list follows "INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO," and the city's FAQ says other projects with the same purpose could be funded.

The draft resolution of support in the council's September 15 packet says the burden of improving and replacing sidewalks falls on adjacent property owners under Edgewater Municipal Code Section 11-2-140. The question lists "REDUCING OR ELIMINATING THE OBLIGATION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS TO CONSTRUCT AND REPAIR SIDEWALKS" as a permitted use. It permits that spending without ending the obligation: the ordinance amends only the sales tax section of the city code, so the sidewalk rule stands unless the council changes it.

The draft resolution says a yes vote would shift "a portion of the burden" of future right-of-way work from residents and property owners "to all those who purchase taxable items at retail in the City."

The city's FAQ estimates the cost of new ramps, wider sidewalks and safer crossings at about $37 million, work it says will most likely take 10 to 20 years; its project page, updated August 26, puts the need at about $36 million over 15 to 20 years. The draft resolution says the right-of-way work in the city's 2024 ADA transition plan is estimated at $12.0 million to $12.7 million. A staff projection, which assumes sales grow 3% a year, puts the half percent's yield at $32 million over 20 years. The FAQ also says the city already funds accessibility and mobility work from its budget, and that the tax would add a dedicated source.

The draft resolution says the revenue stream could let shorter-term projects be "funded through debt secured by the tax revenue stream, with future voter approval as required by TABOR." Issue 2K asks only for the tax. Future borrowing would require voter approval when TABOR requires it.

All revenue from the tax would be collected, retained and spent as a voter-approved revenue change under Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, "WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY SPENDING, REVENUE-RAISING, OR OTHER LIMITATION" in the constitution or any other law.

The same Jefferson County ballot carries West Metro Fire Protection District Ballot Issue 7C, a 0.75% district sales tax that excludes groceries, gas and medicine. West Metro lists Edgewater among the communities it serves. On August 18 the council held its vote on 2K until later in the meeting "to allow West Metro Fire time to approve/disapprove their proposed tax increase."

Senate Bill 26-172 places all of Edgewater inside the Front Range Passenger Rail District, whose Ballot Issue 7A asks for a 0.333% sales and use tax with exemptions for food and gasoline. Each question stands alone, and no result on 7A or 7C changes what 2K would do.