Huerfano County Recreational and Cultural Facilities and Programming Mill Levy Increase

Ballot Issue 1A adds 2 mills to Huerfano County's property tax on all taxable real and personal property, beginning January 1, 2027, to pay for parks, cultural facilities and recreational and cultural programs. The Board of County Commissioners referred it in Resolution 26-34, adopted August 25, 2026. The question estimates the revenue at approximately $354,692 a year, "OR BY SUCH AMOUNT AS MAY BE RAISED." The resolution sets no end date: the tax continues until the county's registered electors repeal or revise it.

The money goes into a new "recreation and culture tax fund" that the county budgets separately. The question makes all tax revenue and any earnings on it a permanent voter-approved revenue change under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and an exception to the limitations in Section 29-1-301 of the Colorado Revised Statutes and any other law. Rye Fire Protection District voters also decide Ballot Issue 7B, an 11.652-mill district property tax increase for ten years, and Walsenburg voters decide City of Walsenburg Ballot Issue 300, a city sales and use tax increase for law enforcement costs.

The resolution's new code article lets the fund buy land for, build, improve and maintain parks and recreational facilities, maintain and improve cultural facilities, and pay for recreational and cultural programs. Selling, leasing, trading, otherwise conveying or exclusively licensing tax-funded land or interests requires a public hearing and approval by the government that received the money or sponsored its recipient. County sale proceeds return to the fund. Agreements with other entities must include the disposition requirement, but may let it sunset after at least five years. Related design, engineering, grant-writing and legal fees qualify, and so do "necessary and appropriate County administrative costs." Recreational facilities include conservation sites, defined as interests in land and water, such as easements, for open space.

Eligible maintenance costs include the wages of workers who clean, paint, landscape and water the facilities, but exclude uniforms, utilities, decorations, property insurance and workers' compensation insurance. Improvement expenses exclude utilities, decorations, property insurance and other ongoing costs; insurance for events and specific programs is separately eligible. Streets, sidewalks and rights of way do not qualify as recreational facilities. Administrative buildings, day care facilities, welcome centers, airports and cemeteries qualify only to the extent they include recreational areas easily accessible to the public. Programs cover activities "including but not limited to job training, school programs, summer camps, festivals, and elder activities." They must primarily serve Huerfano County residents, though people from elsewhere may also take part. Their staffing, food, volunteer and transportation costs are eligible.

The county, municipalities, school districts, library districts, other special districts, and nonprofits those governments sponsor may apply. A nonprofit operating in the county that applies for program money counts as sponsored by the county.

A new Huerfano County Recreation Advisory Board of up to five members reviews applications and develops a budget or annual spending plan for the fund. The commissioners appoint its members, who serve three-year terms at the commissioners' pleasure. Membership must balance geography, population and interests, with at least one member from each commissioner district. Members must be registered county voters or enrolled in a county school; county employees and elected officials are ineligible. Members are unpaid except for actual expenses. The board must meet at least quarterly, hold open public meetings, publish agendas at least one working day ahead or longer if state law requires, and make approved minutes public. Members may not vote or participate in applications involving their financial or ownership interests, including ownership of adjacent property. The county must account for administrative expenses as its auditor prescribes or under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. The board and county staff recommend, and the commissioners approve, conditionally approve or deny each grant. The 2-mill rate and the code articles on the fund and the board change only by a countywide vote.

The resolution's findings list needs such as resurfacing the track around Bonham Field in Gardner, a partial roof replacement at the Huerfano County Community Center in Walsenburg, and repair or replacement of several buildings at Parker Fitzgerald Cuchara Mountain Park. The question commits the fund to none of these projects.