Erie's Town Council referred ballot issue 3F in Resolution No. 2026-163, adopted 7 to 0 on August 11, 2026. The question's heading names its purpose as paying for the expansion of the Erie Community Center. A yes vote lets the town borrow up to $32.5 million, with repayment capped at $52.6 million in principal and interest, to update, expand and equip the center and for its continued operations and maintenance. The town may repay the debt from legally available revenue and set its interest, sale price and terms, issuing it in one or more series and allowing early redemption with or without a premium of up to 3%. The listed work includes fitness studios, a new gymnasium, racquetball courts and multipurpose space. The town's preliminary financing analysis, dated July 28, 2026, assumes 5% interest and estimates $32,465,000 in bonds, $32 million of it for the project, repaid at about $2.58 million a year through 2046, or $51.5 million.
Erie Community Center Debt and Sales Tax Increase
Ballot issue 3F ties borrowing the council plans to repay over 20 years to a sales tax with no end date. Town staff estimated that 0.356% would carry the bond payments with the coverage the town assumed; the council chose 0.501%, which staff estimate leaves about $1.95 million a year above debt service for parks and recreation.
The heading names the community center expansion, and the text beneath it lets the borrowing also pay for continued operations and maintenance, and the tax also pay for the town's other park and recreation expenses. By the town's estimates, the rate raises more than the bond payments need, and after the last payment in the town's preliminary schedule, in 2046, all of it serves parks and recreation spending with no expiration. I oppose a permanent operating tax carried into law under the name of a building project.
I recommend a no vote on Town of Erie ballot issue 3F.
AUTHORIZATION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF DEBT AND AN ADDITIONAL SALES AND USE TAX FOR THE PURPOSE OF PAYING FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE ERIE COMMUNITY CENTER
SHALL THE TOWN OF ERIE'S DEBT BE INCREASED BY UP TO $32.5 MILLION, WITH A MAXIMUM REPAYMENT COST NOT TO EXCEED $52.6 MILLION (PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST) FOR THE PURPOSE OF UPDATING THE AGING ERIE COMMUNITY CENTER BUILDING AND FACILITIES BY ACQUIRING, DESIGNING, CONSTRUCTING, EXPANDING, RENOVATING, IMPROVING, AND EQUIPPING THE SAME AND FOR CONTINUED OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, WITH SUCH IMPROVEMENTS TO INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO: · CONSTRUCTING AND EQUIPPING NEW FITNESS STUDIOS AND EXPANDING EXISTING STUDIOS; · CONSTRUCTING AND EQUIPPING A NEW GYMNASIUM AND RACQUET BALL COURTS; · EXPANDING MULTIPURPOSE COMMUNITY AND RECREATION SPACE; · EQUIPPING NEW STRENGTH TRAINING AND CIRCUIT TRAINING AREAS; AND SHALL TOWN TAXES BE INCREASED BY UP TO $4,866,857 IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR AND BY SUCH ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS AS ARE GENERATED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER BY AN INCREASE IN THE RATE OF SALES AND USE TAX IMPOSED BY THE TOWN BY .501%, COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2027, WHICH TAX REVENUES WILL BE USED FOR THE PAYMENT OF THE DEBT AUTHORIZED BY THIS QUESTION AND FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE ERIE COMMUNITY CENTER AND OTHER PARK AND RECREATION RELATED EXPENSES OF THE TOWN; AND MAY THE DEBT ISSUED PURSUANT TO THIS QUESTION BE PAID FROM SUCH LEGALLY AVAILABLE REVENUES, BEAR INTEREST, AND BE SOLD IN ONE SERIES OR MORE AT A PRICE ABOVE, BELOW OR EQUAL TO THE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF SUCH DEBT AND WITH SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS, INCLUDING PROVISIONS FOR REDEMPTION PRIOR TO MATURITY WITH OR WITHOUT PAYMENT OF PREMIUM OF NOT TO EXCEED 3%, ALL AS THE TOWN MAY DETERMINE; AND SHALL THE REVENUES RAISED BY SUCH SALES AND USE TAX RATE INCREASE AND PROCEEDS OF SUCH DEBT, ANY OTHER REVENUE USED TO PAY SUCH DEBT, AND INVESTMENT INCOME THEREON, BE COLLECTED AND SPENT BY THE TOWN AS A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE PURSUANT TO ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION?
Approves the community center borrowing and the additional 0.501 percentage points in sales and use tax beginning January 1, 2027.
Rejects the borrowing and the sales and use tax increase.
Tax on qualifying purchases at 0.501%.
$1,000 in taxable purchases
$1,000 at 0.501% = $5.01.
Enter the amount subject to this tax. Other taxes and exempt transactions are excluded.
A yes vote also raises Erie's sales and use tax by 0.501% on January 1, 2027. Staff's August 11 memo estimates that a 0.356% increase would cover the bond payments with revenue of 1.25 times each year's payment, the coverage the town assumed. Staff recommended 0.501% and estimated it would leave about $1.95 million a year above debt service for operations, maintenance, repairs, equipment replacement and capital needs in parks and recreation.
The ballot caps the first-year increase at $4,866,857, a figure the town's analysis builds on $5 million in use tax. With the 2027 budget's assumption of about $2.68 million in use tax, the analysis estimates $4,530,938.
At its July 14 meeting the council chose a 20-year financing term and directed that the tax continue after the debt is repaid. The ballot sets no expiration. Once the bonds are paid, the full rate goes to the community center and the town's other park and recreation expenses. The town may collect and spend the tax revenue, the bond proceeds, any other revenue used to pay the bonds and their investment income as a voter-approved revenue change under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR).
Under the Colorado Department of Revenue's January 2026 rate table, shoppers in the Boulder County part pay 8.835% today and 9.336% after the increase. In the Weld County part where the Regional Transportation District tax applies, the rate is 7.40% today and 7.901% after. Weld County land annexed into Erie since 1994 carries no Regional Transportation District tax, so shoppers there pay 6.40% today and 6.901% after. These rates leave out the Front Range Passenger Rail District's 7A, a separate 0.333% sales and use tax on both counties' ballots.
- Town Council Meeting, July 14, 2026 (meeting files)Town of Erie, Town Council · Jul 14, 2026Town of Erie Town Council packet for July 14, 2026, containing a staff agenda item and three draft options of the ECC Expansion and Renovation debt and sales-and-use-tax ballot question, with dollar amounts left blank and final language to be set by ordinance on August 11.
- Boulder County compiled ballot content, General Election, Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (sample ballot, English)Boulder County Clerk and Recorder
- 2026 General Election English Sample Ballot (Weld County)Weld County Clerk and Recorder
- Town Council Meeting Minutes, Aug. 11, 2026Town of Erie, Town Council · Aug 11, 2026The source is August 11, 2026 Town of Erie council minutes that record approval of a resolution to submit a November 3, 2026 question authorizing debt and a sales and use tax increase, though they do not explicitly name the Erie Community Center.
- Results for the 2026 Erie Community Center Expansion Survey (presentation, May 5, 2026)Town of Erie · May 5, 2026Town of Erie presentation stating the 2026 Erie Community Center Expansion Survey results were presented on May 5, 2026.
- Town of Erie - Community Center Expansion Survey, Report of Results, April 2026Polco, for the Town of ErieTown of Erie report stating the Community Center Expansion Survey results were published in April 2026.
- Erie officials lining up 2 ballot measures for November electionBoulder Daily Camera · Jul 16, 2026 · subscription requiredThe Boulder Daily Camera article reports that Erie is preparing a November 2026 ballot measure for a 0.5% sales and use tax increase to fund an estimated $32.5 million debt for the Erie Community Center expansion and renovation.
- Erie officials lining up 2 ballot measures for November electionLongmont Times-Call · Jul 16, 2026 · subscription requiredThe source is a July 16, 2026 Longmont Times-Call news report that directly discusses Erie's proposed 0.5% sales and use tax to finance the Erie Community Center expansion and renovation.