Manitou Springs Excise Tax on Tickets and Admissions
New tax or feeAdmissions tax increase
Raises the city tax on ticket sales and admissions fees from 5% to 9.03% beginning January 1, 2027, with no end date or specified spending purpose.
City of Manitou Springs
On the November 3, 2026 ballot
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on City of Manitou Springs Ballot Issue 2A
Ballot Issue 2A puts a citywide budget gap on a short list of attractions: the Cog Railway, the Cliff Dwellings, a zipline and a few others. I believe a tax should fall on all taxpayers alike. Supporters say 9.03% matches the total sales tax rate paid in town, yet the city's share of that rate is 3.9%. After this increase, the city's tax on a ticket is 9.03%.
A budget proposal in the council's packet shows that even with the increase, balancing the 2027 budget would take $984,619 in cuts. I oppose putting a tax with no end date and no stated spending purpose on the customers of a few businesses. In the proposal's scenarios that preserve reserves, the city would need spending cuts whether or not the tax passes. Voters said no to a larger version of this tax last November.
I recommend a no vote on City of Manitou Springs Ballot Issue 2A.
Kim Monson
Host, The Kim Monson Show · President, Colorado Union of Taxpayers · Colorado Voter's Guide 2026
Certified ballot question
SHALL THE CITY OF MANITOU SPRINGS’ TAXES BE INCREASED BY ONE MILLION ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS ($1,128,000.00) ANNUALLY IN THE FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2027 AND BY SUCH AMOUNTS AS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER BY ADDING AN ADDITIONAL FOUR AND THREE ONE-HUNDREDTHS PERCENT (4.03%) TO THE CITY’S CURRENT FIVE PERCENT (5%) EXCISE TAX RATE ON TICKET SALES AND ADMISSIONS FEES, AND WITH THE RESULTING TAX REVENUE BEING ALLOWED TO BE COLLECTED AND SPENT BY THE CITY WITHOUT REGARD TO ANY EXPENDITURE, REVENUE-RAISING, OR OTHER LIMITATION CONTAINED IN ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION OR ANY OTHER LAW?
A yes vote means
Approves the 4.03-percentage-point increase and collection and spending of the resulting revenue outside TABOR and other legal limits.
A no vote means
Rejects the increase; the city excise tax rate remains 5%.
Key facts
Current city rate
5%
Proposed city rate
9.03%
Begins
January 1, 2027
A Higher Tax on Tickets01
Manitou Springs charges a 5% city excise tax on ticket sales and admissions fees. KKTV reports that those fees do not carry the city's sales tax. KOAA reports that Ballot Issue 2A's increase mainly affects the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, the Iron Mountain Chateau, Adventures Out West Zipline and the Cliff Dwellings.
Ballot Issue 2A adds 4.03 percentage points to the rate, bringing it to 9.03% in the fiscal year that begins January 1, 2027. The question puts the increase at $1,128,000 in that first full year and authorizes whatever the tax raises in each year after. It sets no end date.
Added tickets and admissions tax
The proposed increase adds $4.03 per $100 of taxable ticket sales and admissions fees.
Example for $100 in taxable tickets or admissions
$100 × 0.0403 = $4.03
This estimates the added city excise tax, not the total tax or final ticket price. Begins January 1, 2027, with no end date. Rounded to the nearest cent; actual checkout rounding may differ.
Estimated added city excise tax
Enter a value of zero or more, with no more than two decimal places.
El Paso County certified sample ballot, City of Manitou Springs Ballot Issue 2A
Spending and TABOR02
The question names no project or service for the money. The city may collect and spend the revenue without regard to any spending, revenue or other limit in the Colorado Constitution's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR) or any other law.
The Budget Gap03
KKTV reports that Manitou Springs lost millions of dollars in recreational marijuana sales tax after Colorado Springs legalized retail sales. Mayor Natalie Johnson told KKTV the city has cut its budget by over $1 million. At the August 18 council meeting, she said the added revenue is needed but would not fully address the budget deficit.
A budget-retreat proposal in the council's August 11 packet models the gap on the city's baseline 2026 revenue and spending. Without the increase, the model needs $2,113,019 in cuts to balance the 2027 General Fund budget. With the increase, it still needs $984,619.
Earlier Versions of the Increase04
In November 2025, Manitou Springs voters rejected an earlier Ballot Issue 2A, which KKTV reports would have raised the excise tax from around 5% to up to 14%. El Paso County's final official results show 961 votes for and 1,240 against.
This year's draft resolution would have let the council raise or lower the rate, up to 9.03%, without another vote. On August 18, the council voted 7 to 0 for a version with a fixed 4.03% increase instead. Councilor John Shada said a fixed rate would reduce the potential for future political pressure on the council to adjust the tax.
Who Pays the Tax05
In an August 11 letter, Ralph Routon of Fair Taxes for Manitou Springs asked the council, as a matter of fairness, to send voters an increase matching the total sales tax rate already paid throughout the city. He told KOAA that tourism would probably pay 90% or more of the revenue. Greg Wellans, owner of Adventures Out West, told KOAA that the 9.03% figure combines city, county and state taxes, and that the measure shifts a community-wide problem to a few businesses. The state's January 2026 rate table and the city's sales tax report in the August 18 council packet both list the city's sales tax at 3.9%.
Sources06
Official documents
El Paso County certified sample ballot, November 3, 2026 election
The Sept. 1, 2026 Manitou Springs council packet includes the Aug. 18, 2026 minutes, in which Council refers the 4.03% excise tax increase on tickets and admissions to the November 3, 2026 ballot.
The Aug. 11, 2026 Manitou Springs council packet includes a residents' letter asking Council to refer a measure raising the Amusement Tax from 5% to 9.03%, plus budget-retreat proposals that model a 4.03% increase.
The official Manitou Springs City Council minutes of August 18, 2026 record the unanimous adoption of Resolution No. 1826, which sends voters a ballot issue on the November 3, 2026 ballot to raise the city's excise tax on ticket sales and admission fees by a set 4.03%.
