Grand County Library Waiver of the Property Tax Limit

The Grand County Library District seeks to set aside the state's 5.25% property tax limit for all future property tax years. Section 29-1-1704, C.R.S., lets a governing body seek a waiver for a single property tax year, a specified number of property tax years or all future property tax years. The question states that the waiver comes "without any increase in any district tax rate" and gives its purpose: "to continue to support increased demand for library services."

Senate Bill 24-233 bars a local government's qualified property tax revenue from increasing by more than its property tax limit, starting with property tax years on or after January 1, 2025. House Bill 24B-1001 uses the highest qualified property tax revenue collected and lawfully retained in a property tax year from any earlier reassessment cycle as the base. It adds 5.25% of that base for each year in the current reassessment cycle, plus any eligible carryover. Qualified revenue leaves out some sources, including revenue from new construction. In a year when revenue would pass the limit, the library board grants property owners a temporary tax credit or sets a lower levy for that year, and the levy on the books stays the same; section 29-1-1702 requires a refund of any excess the board does not cut. With the waiver, the library district owes no credit, levy cut or refund under the limit.

The district's ballot summary of September 22 says a yes vote lets it "retain and use all of the revenue generated by its existing voter-approved tax rate." The summary says the revenue "would increase services according to growth and allow the Library to better prepare for long-term facility maintenance & improvements." It says a no vote limits the district "to 5.25% property tax growth annually, regardless of actual growth." The district's FAQ says that without the waiver, the district "may be required to limit property tax revenue growth to 5.25% annually."

The FAQ defines a mill as $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable assessed property value, so at an unchanged rate the district's collections follow assessed values. The district's 2026 adopted budget lists $5,150,558 in general property taxes.

Ballot Issue 6B concerns the 0.95 mill levy voters approved in 2016, which the district says expires at the end of 2026. The FAQ says the total library levy stays at 3.36 mills if 6B passes and falls to 2.41 mills if it fails. The text of 6C does not mention 6B, and 6C takes effect on a majority of the votes cast on it. The text of 6B asks that its proceeds be collected and spent "without regard to any spending or revenue limitation contained in any Colorado law."