Extension of El Paso County's public safety sales and use tax to 2037

El Paso County voters approved the public safety sales and use tax in 2012. In 2018 voters extended it "until January 1, 2029," according to the recitals of Resolution 26-249, which the Board of County Commissioners adopted on August 4, 2026, to refer Ballot Issue 1A. Collections until that date rest on the 2018 vote.

Ballot Issue 1A would keep the rate at 0.23%, twenty-three hundredths of one cent, and move the end date to January 1, 2037. Under the resolution, the extension "shall become effective on January 1, 2029." The tax would continue "upon the same terms and conditions as those set forth in Resolution No. 12-309 Amended, except as modified herein."

The question lists the permitted uses under three headings: continuing law enforcement needs, criminal justice needs, including jail staffing and criminal extradition, and emergency response needs, including wildland fire staff and trucks. From January 1, 2029, the resolution requires the county to "expend all revenue generated from this dedicated public safety sales and use tax for the purposes listed below and for no other purposes."

The commissioners could later amend the rest of the resolution by board vote, without an election, "Unless otherwise required by Colorado law." The list of uses is the exception: changing it requires "submission of the appropriate ballot issue or question to the eligible electors of the County."

At the first reading on July 27, the Gazette reported, Ryan Parsell, the county's executive director of government affairs, told the board: "I’m not aware of any constraints that the past or current ballot language placed on the sheriff’s office to fund critical public safety needs." Board Chair Carrie Geitner said all of the fund's money has gone to the Sheriff's Office and that "those funds can’t be diverted for other projects now or in the future," according to FOX21.

Resolution 26-249 would replace paragraph 27 of Resolution 12-309 with a requirement that the sheriff "annually report to the Board of County Commissioners in a public meeting the revenue generated by the public safety sales and use tax and the expenditures therefrom." The ballot question carries the same term.

Parsell told the board the draft "supersedes the requirement that the Sheriff’s Office report to a citizen advisory group of some sort about the collection and use of the tax," FOX21 reported. The Gazette described the change as "omitting a special advisory group to track collection and the use of the tax money," with the commissioners filling that role.

In an August 12 Colorado Accountability Project commentary published by Rocky Mountain Voice, Cory Gaines wrote that he was "not so sure about the advisory group being disbanded," guessing that El Paso County's commissioners "have plenty on their plates."

The county's July 24 announcement says the fund "generates approximately $40 million annually." Its August 4 announcement says the revenue "currently supports 197 employees" in the Sheriff's Office, along with equipment, technology, facilities and other operational costs. The resolution credits the 2012 tax with 197 added sworn and professional staff, body armor and other equipment upgrades, and an expanded Wildland Fire Team.

The July 24 announcement says that since 2012 "the Pikes Peak region has experienced approximately 18% population growth, and yet, calls for emergency services have increased by 34% during the same period." It adds that "changes to state law have contributed to higher crime rates across Colorado," and it notes that the county jail "serves every law enforcement agency in the county, including the Colorado Springs Police Department."

The commissioners forwarded the measure unanimously on first reading, the Gazette reported, and referred it to voters by a 5-0 vote on August 4, according to KRDO. The county then took written comments for and against Issue 1A until noon on September 18 for its ballot issue notice, KRDO reported.