Ballot Issue 3A taxes purchases in Green Mountain Falls for four years so the town can make a building ready for a business. That puts a town government in the work of a developer and landlord, and I hold that government belongs within its proper, limited role. Readying a building for a future business is a job for private owners and private money.
The mayor has written that this increase would put Green Mountain Falls toward the top of the area's sales taxes. The tax also pays to operate and maintain the building, and whatever it raises beyond those costs flows to capital projects the question leaves to the trustees. Every shopper in town would pay toward the renovation, which is why I oppose this new tax.
I recommend a no vote on Town of Green Mountain Falls Ballot Issue 3A.
SHALL TOWN OF GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS TAXES BE INCREASED BY FIFTY EIGHT THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR DOLLARS ($58,684.00) IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR AND BY SUCH ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS AS ARE GENERATED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER FROM THE IMPOSITION OF AN ADDITIONAL SALES TAX OF 0.5%; SUCH TAX INCREASE TO BEGIN ON JANUARY 1, 2027, AND CONTINUE UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2030; WHICH TAX REVENUES WILL BE USED FOR THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE TOWN-OWNED PROPERTY LOCATED AT 10545 UTE PASS AVENUE, GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS, COLORADO 80819, AND KNOWN AS THE OLD TOWN MARSHAL'S BUILDING AND FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS IF THE REVENUE GENERATED BY THIS ADDITIONAL 0.5% TAX EXCEEDS THE COSTS OF CONSTRUCTING, OPERATING, AND MAINTAINING THE OLD TOWN MARSHAL'S OFFICE; AND SHALL THE TOWN BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN AND SPEND SUCH TAX REVENUES, INCLUDING FOR EACH YEAR, ANY INVESTMENT EARNINGS AND INTEREST ON SUCH REVENUES, AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20, OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION AND ANY OTHER LAW?
Approves the added tax, the building costs and conditional capital-project spending, and retention of the tax revenue, investment earnings and interest outside revenue limits.
Rejects this added sales tax.
Green Mountain Falls, a town of 601 residents by the Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate, sits in both El Paso and Teller counties, and Ballot Issue 3A appears on both counties' ballots. It raises the town's sales tax from 3% to 3.5% on January 1, 2027, and the added half percent ends December 31, 2030.
The question sets the increase at $58,684 in the first full fiscal year and allows whatever the added tax generates in each later year of the term.
| Rate | |
|---|---|
| Town of Green Mountain Falls' own sales tax now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002) | 3% |
| Added by this measure | 0.5% |
The proposed 0.5% sales tax adds 50 cents per $100 of taxable purchases.
Example for $1,000 in taxable purchases
$1,000 × 0.005 = $5.00
This estimates the added tax, not the total tax on a purchase. Applies during the proposed January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2030 term. Rounded to the nearest cent; actual checkout rounding may differ.
The revenue pays for the construction, operation and maintenance of the old Town Marshal's building, a town-owned property at 10545 Ute Pass Avenue. The Board of Trustees set the question in Resolution 2026-08, which it passed on May 5, 2026. The resolution aims to revitalize the building "for economic development purposes so it can be made available to a business."
In August, The Mountain Jackpot News quoted Mayor Todd Dixon's newsletter calling the building a potential "revenue generator for the Town" and saying the part with the outside door "can be used as a public restroom." The paper named a small convenience store as one possible future business there and reported that grants will also support the rehabilitation. The quoted passage says the tax "would put the Town of Green Mountain Falls towards the top of the sales and use taxes in our area" and "would go away automatically after four years."
If the added tax raises more than the building's construction, operation and maintenance cost, the rest goes to other capital improvement projects. Resolution 2026-08 deposits all of the revenue in a segregated, interest-bearing account, the 2026 Sales Tax Capital Improvement Account, within the town's Capital Improvement Fund.
The trustees' April vote to send the tax to the ballot named the old Marshal's Office as the priority and other items on the capital improvement plan after it. At the March meeting, the town manager's presentation on the tax listed possible projects: sidewalks, culverts, downtown or townwide sewage, a new pool park, and playground updates.
A yes vote lets the town collect, retain and spend the revenue and each year's investment earnings and interest as a voter-approved revenue change under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, and under any other law.
The 2026 election is over. Requests for personalized guides closed on November 3, 2026. The full guide remains available to read.