City of Longmont

Longmont Sales and Property Taxes for Public Safety

New tax or feeMill levy and sales tax for police and fire

Adds up to 2.44 mills initially and a 0.33% sales and use tax for Longmont police and fire; the property levy may later adjust for specified tax-relief changes.

City of Longmont

Kim's Recommendation

Vote No on City of Longmont ballot issue 3A

Ballot issue 3A writes a recovery clause into the new property tax it creates. Starting in tax collection year 2028, the City Council may raise that levy above 2.44 mills, year after year, to win back revenue that required tax credits, refunds, abatements or lower assessment rates take away. Relief in those forms that the legislature or Colorado voters grant property owners need not reach this levy.

Issue 3A also frees both taxes and their investment income from TABOR's revenue limit, with no end date, so money above the limit stays with the city instead of going back to the people who paid it. I oppose tying the sales tax for police, fire and dispatch to an adjustable levy that voters cannot accept or refuse separately.

I recommend a no vote on City of Longmont ballot issue 3A.

Kim Monson

Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026

Certified ballot question

MAINTAIN AND INCREASE FIRE AND POLICE SERVICES VIA TAX INCREASES

SHALL CITY OF LONGMONT TAXES BE INCREASED $19.5 MILLION ANNUALLY IN THE FIRST FULL YEAR AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS AS ARE GENERATED ANNUALLY IN EACH SUBSEQUENT YEAR FROM THE IMPOSITION OF AN ADDITIONAL MILL LEVY OF NOT TO EXCEED 2.44 MILLS (AS ADJUSTED) BEGINNING WITH TAX COLLECTION YEAR 2027 AND AN ADDITIONAL CITY SALES AND USE TAX IMPOSED AT A RATE OF 0.33% BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2027, WITH THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH TAXES BEING USED EXCLUSIVELY TO MAINTAIN AND INCREASE THE LEVEL OF SERVICE FOR PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE CITY OF LONGMONT, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO PROVIDING FUNDS FOR: POLICE OFFICERS AND PERSONNEL FOR TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PREVENTION; POLICE OFFICERS TO ENSURE SAFETY OF OFFICERS AND TO IMPROVE EMERGENCY RESPONSE; EMERGENCY DISPATCHERS FOR 911 RESPONSE; FIREFIGHTERS TO ENSURE SAFE AND SUFFICIENT RESPONSE TO EMERGENCIES; PERSONNEL TO SUPPORT EMERGENCY PUBLIC SAFETY RESPONDERS; AND PUBLIC SAFETY EQUIPMENT, VEHICLES AND FACILITIES TO ENSURE SAFETY; AND SHALL ORDINANCE O-2026-53 AUTHORIZING SUCH TAX INCREASES BE APPROVED, AND SHALL THE CITY BE AUTHORIZED TO INCREASE THE MILL LEVY AUTHORIZED BY THIS QUESTION BEGINNING IN TAX COLLECTION YEAR 2028 AND ANNUALLY THEREAFTER TO OFFSET ANY REVENUE REDUCTIONS CAUSED BY ANY CONSTITUTIONALLY OR STATUTORILY REQUIRED TAX CREDITS, PROPERTY TAX REFUNDS, ABATEMENTS, REDUCTIONS IN THE PERCENTAGE OF ACTUAL VALUATION USED TO DETERMINE ASSESSED VALUATION, OR REDUCTIONS IN THE ACTUAL VALUE AGAINST WHICH THE ASSESSMENT RATE IS APPLIED THAT ARE ENACTED AFTER THE DATE OF APPROVAL OF THIS BALLOT QUESTION OR ARE OTHERWISE SET FORTH IN C.R.S. §§ 29-1-1701, ET SEQ., OR C.R.S. §§ 39-1-101, ET SEQ., AND SHALL THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH TAXES AND INVESTMENT INCOME THEREON BE COLLECTED AND SPENT WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY LIMITATION CONTAINED WITHIN ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION OR ANY OTHER LAW?

A yes vote means

Approves both the additional mill levy and the additional 0.33 percent sales and use tax from 2027, approves Ordinance O-2026-53, and allows the levy to be raised from 2028 to offset credits, refunds, abatements or assessment-rate reductions.

A no vote means

Rejects both taxes.

A Sales Tax and a Levy Together01

Ballot issue 3A raises Longmont's city sales and use tax from 3.53% to 3.86% on January 1, 2027, and lets the City Council add a property tax of up to 2.44 mills beginning with tax collection year 2027. One yes-or-no vote decides both taxes. The question states $19.5 million in new revenue for the first full year and whatever amounts the taxes raise in each later year.

The tax rate now and what this measure adds

	Rate
City of Longmont's own sales tax now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002)	3.53%
Added by this measure	0.33%
Also in this measure: a property tax	Up to 2.44 mills (as adjusted)

Boulder County ballot, City of Longmont ballot issue 3A; also on the Weld County ballot

The Sales Tax Portion of 3A

Tax on qualifying purchases at 0.33%.

$1,000 in taxable purchases

$1,000 at 0.33% = $3.30.

Enter the amount subject to this tax. Other taxes and exempt transactions are excluded. This calculates only the sales and use tax increase; the additional property levy is separate.

City of Longmont ballot issue 3A: 0.33%.

Sales Tax in Longmont's Two Counties02

In the Boulder County part of Longmont, the combined sales tax stands at 8.865% under the state's January 2026 rate table: 2.9% for the state, 1% for the Regional Transportation District, 0.1% for the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, 1.335% for Boulder County and 3.53% for the city. With 3A, that total becomes 9.195%. The Boulder County and cultural-district taxes do not apply in the Weld County part of the city, and the transportation district's tax does not apply in areas the city annexed there since 1994.

The 9.195% total does not include 7A, the Front Range Passenger Rail District's sales and use tax, on the same ballot. Boulder County's 1A, a levy for early childhood care and education, is also on the ballot.

Police, Fire and Dispatch03

The question lists police officers and personnel for traffic enforcement, investigations and prevention; officers for officer safety and emergency response; 911 dispatchers; firefighters; support personnel; and public safety equipment, vehicles and facilities, "including, but not limited to" those uses. The ordinance's findings also name behavioral health and crisis response, co-responder services and diversion programs. New sales tax revenue goes into the city's public safety sales tax fund, under the same restrictions as the money already there from the existing 0.58% public safety sales tax. Levy revenue goes to a separate fund used solely for public safety.

Council Power to Raise the Levy04

From tax collection year 2028, the council may raise the levy above 2.44 mills each year to offset revenue lost to constitutionally or statutorily required tax credits, property tax refunds, abatements, lower assessment rates or reductions in the actual value the assessment rate applies to. The adjustment covers reductions enacted after voters approve the question and those set forth in the two parts of state law the question cites.

Permanent Taxes Exempt From TABOR05

Neither tax carries an end date. The city may collect and spend the proceeds and their investment income without regard to any limit in TABOR or any other law, so revenue above those limits stays with the city instead of returning to taxpayers.

Budget Adoption After the Vote06

Longmont's proposed $547.5 million budget for 2027 does not assume 3A passes, and staff will return with amendments if it does, the Longmont Leader reported. The city's budget calendar sets first reading of the adoption ordinances for November 17 and second reading for December 1, the Leader reported.

Sources07

Official documents

Boulder County compiled ballot, page 8 — November 3, 2026 election