Evergreen Fire Sales Tax for Staffing, Wildfire Work and Stations
New tax or feeNew sales tax
Adds a 0.89% district sales tax beginning January 1, 2027, for fire and emergency services, wildfire work and capital needs, while preserving existing funding.
Evergreen Fire Protection District
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Evergreen Fire Protection District Ballot Issue 7B
Under Issue 7B, the new sales tax comes "in addition to all other taxes levied by the district," and its revenue may not stand in for funding that voters already authorized or that the law entitles the district to receive. The favorable comment says diversifying revenue can reduce reliance on property taxes, but under these terms the property tax stays and everyone buying taxable goods in the district also pays the 0.89%.
Excessive sales taxes and excessive property taxes weigh on the same people, and I count them as one burden. A sales tax that replaced part of the levy would reduce that reliance; 7B's no-supplant clause rules that out. The TABOR notice estimates the first full year's increase at up to $5,440,000, against estimated spending of $12,108,018 without it.
I recommend a no vote on Evergreen Fire Protection District Ballot Issue 7B.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL EVERGREEN FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT TAXES BE INCREASED BY $5,440,000 ANNUALLY COMMENCING ON JANUARY 1, 2027, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, FROM A 0.89 PERCENT SALES TAX, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING HIGH LEVELS OF FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES, INCLUDING RECRUITING VOLUNTEER AND PAID FIREFIGHTER AND PARAMEDIC STAFF, AND ENHANCING REVENUE SOURCES FOR WILDFIRE MITIGATION, COMMUNITY EDUCATION, AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE CAPABILITY AND NECESSARY CAPITAL UPGRADES, REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE IMPROVEMENTS, SUCH SALES TAX TO BE IN ADDITION TO ALL OTHER TAXES LEVIED BY THE DISTRICT AND NOT TO SUPPLANT ANY FUNDING THAT THE DISTRICT VOTERS PREVIOUSLY AUTHORIZED OR WHICH IT IS ENTITLED TO RECEIVE BY LAW?
A yes vote means
Approves the 0.89 percent district sales tax from January 1, 2027, in addition to all other taxes the district levies.
A no vote means
Rejects the district sales tax.
A First Sales Tax for Evergreen Fire01
The Evergreen Fire Protection District has put a 0.89% sales tax on taxable purchases inside the district before its voters in Jefferson and Clear Creek counties, to begin January 1, 2027. As an example, at 0.89%, a $100 taxable purchase pays 89 cents in district tax. The district, which operates as Evergreen Fire/Rescue, says it serves nearly 26,000 residents across more than 120 square miles. The district says a recent state law, SB24-194, allows fire districts to use a sales tax to raise revenue.
The question raises district taxes by $5,440,000 a year and by whatever additional amounts the tax raises in later years. It sets no end date. The TABOR notice estimates the maximum increase in the first full fiscal year at $5,440,000 and first-full-year spending without the increase at $12,108,018. The district and the favorable comment in Jefferson County's TABOR notice say the tax does not apply to groceries, prescription drugs, residential energy and other items exempt under state sales tax law.
The tax rate now and what this measure adds
Rate
Sales tax Evergreen Fire Protection District levies now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002)
0%
Added by this measure
0.89%
Jefferson County ballot, Evergreen Fire Protection District ballot issue 7B; also on the Clear Creek County ballot
The Proposed District Sales Tax
Calculate the added tax on a taxable charge or purchase.
$100.00 in taxable purchases
$100.00 × 0.89% = $0.89.
The proposed 0.89% tax adds 89 cents per $100 of taxable purchases beginning January 1, 2027. Other sales taxes are separate. The question specifies no expiration.
Added tax
Enter a nonnegative dollar amount with no more than two decimal places.
Evergreen Fire Protection District ballot issue 7B: rate stated in the question.
Wildland Staffing and Station Replacement02
The question lists fire and emergency services, recruiting volunteer and paid firefighters and paramedics, wildfire mitigation, community education, emergency response capability, and capital upgrades, repairs and maintenance.
The comment says calls for service rose from 2,097 in 2016 to 4,340 in 2025, and that a fire engine cost approximately $650,000 in 2020 and $1.4 million in 2025. It says the tax would expand the wildland crew to seven-day staffing, and that two master plans and three strategic plans identify Station 1, built in 1965, for replacement.
Added to the District's Property Tax03
The question makes the sales tax "in addition to all other taxes levied by the district" and says it will not supplant any funding that district voters previously authorized or that the district is entitled to receive by law. The state Division of Property Taxation lists the district's 2025 levy at 11.365 mills. The district says it has not asked voters for a mill levy increase since 2016.
The favorable comment says diversifying revenue "can provide greater financial stability by reducing reliance on property taxes and broadening the contribution base."
