Monument Use Tax on Construction Materials

New tax or feeUse tax increase

Raises the town use tax on construction and building materials and construction equipment from 2.0% to 3.5% beginning January 1, 2027, for capital projects.

Town of Monument

On the November 3, 2026 ballot

Kim's Recommendation

Vote No on Town of Monument Ballot Issue 2B

I weigh the mayor pro tem's argument for Ballot Issue 2B, parity with the 3.5% sales tax, against the ordinance the council passed. The council chose parity by raising the lower rate, and it left registered vehicles at 2%, so Monument's use tax would still carry two rates. The question raises $2,272,500 in its first year, and whatever more the 3.5% rate generates in later years, and lets the town keep all of it as a voter-approved revenue change.

I oppose new taxes. This increase reaches homeowners as well as builders. The town collects use tax with the permit for a residential addition or a fence, so a homeowner who uses materials bought where no 3.5% municipal sales tax was collected pays the higher rate too, less any credit for tax paid elsewhere. A yes vote keeps the higher rate until an ordinance repeals it, and the question sets no year for voters to take it up again.

I recommend a no vote on Town of Monument Ballot Issue 2B.

Kim Monson

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

Certified ballot question

SHALL TOWN OF MONUMENT TAXES BE INCREASED BY $2,272,500 ANNUALLY, BEGINNING JANUARY 1, 2027, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS THE TAX RATE GENERATES IN EACH YEAR AFTER BY RAISING THE TOWN’S USE TAX ON CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT FROM 2.0% TO 3.5%, TO MATCH THE TOWN’S EXISTING 3.5% SALES TAX RATE ON RETAIL PURCHASES; AS SET FORTH IN AND SUBJECT TO THE EXEMPTIONS IN ORDINANCE NO. 19-2026 AND CHAPTER 3.10 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE; THE INCREASED USE TAX IS COLLECTED, ON CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT ONLY WHEN A BUILDING PERMIT OR RIGHT-OF-WAY PERMIT IS REQUESTED AND, WHEN A MUNICIPAL SALES TAX OF 3.5% WAS NOT COLLECTED WHERE THE CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS OR CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT WAS PURCHASED, AND ALL REVENUE WILL BE SPENT ON CAPITAL PROJECTS, INCLUDING: • STREETS, ROADS, BRIDGES, AND SIDEWALKS; AND • STORMWATER IMPROVEMENTS; AND SHALL THE TOWN BE AUTHORIZED TO COLLECT, RETAIN, AND SPEND THIS TAX REVENUE AND ANY INVESTMENT EARNINGS ON IT AS A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION (TABOR) OR ANY OTHER LAW?

A yes vote means

Approves the 3.5% use tax under the stated permit, prior-sales-tax and exemption conditions, capital-project spending, and retention of the tax revenue and investment earnings outside revenue limits.

A no vote means

Rejects the increase; the town use tax rate remains 2.0%.

Key facts

Current use tax

2.0%

Proposed use tax

3.5%

Begins

January 1, 2027

Raising the Construction Use Tax01

Monument charges a 2% use tax on construction materials and on construction equipment used or consumed in town for more than 30 consecutive days, subject to the municipal code's exemptions. Ballot Issue 2B raises that rate to 3.5%. As an example, at 3.5%, $100 of taxable construction materials owes $3.50. The question states the increase as $2,272,500 in its first year, beginning January 1, 2027, plus whatever the rate generates in each later year. The Town Council referred the question in Ordinance No. 19-2026, passed 6 to 1 on August 17, 2026, with Councilmember Kenneth Kimple opposed. The increase has no end date; it continues until repealed by ordinance.

The tax rate now and if approved

	Rate
The town's use tax on construction and building materials and equipment, now (as the question states it)	2%
The town's use tax on construction and building materials and equipment, if approved	3.5%

El Paso County ballot, Town of Monument Ballot Issue 2B

Added construction use tax

The proposed increase adds $15 per $1,000 in taxable construction materials and equipment.

Example for $1,000 subject to the use tax

$1,000 × 0.015 = $15.00

This estimates only the rate increase on an amount subject to the tax. The permit and prior-sales-tax conditions and municipal exemptions apply. It does not determine eligibility, credits or the final tax bill. Begins January 1, 2027, with no end date. Rounded to the nearest cent.

El Paso County certified sample ballot, Town of Monument Ballot Issue 2B

Who Pays the Higher Rate02

The town collects the increased tax only when someone requests a building permit or right-of-way permit, and only when a 3.5% municipal sales tax was not collected where the materials or equipment were purchased. Mayor Pro Tem Steve King told The Gazette that most of the lumber, appliances and other materials for projects built in town are bought outside Monument. The fee schedule adopted in Resolution No. 64-2026, effective October 1, lists the use tax with the permit fees for new homes, residential additions, fences, and commercial and multifamily construction.

The ordinance keeps the exemptions in Section 3.10.030 of the municipal code. It also grants a credit for sales or use tax already paid on the same property to "a previous statutory or home rule county," up to the amount of the town's tax.

Registered Vehicles Left Unchanged03

Monument's 2% use tax also applies to motor vehicles that must be registered. One draft of the ordinance raised the vehicle rate to 3.5% too. The council chose the version that keeps vehicles at 2%.

The Case for Parity04

King said he believes the use tax has been 2% since 1982 while the sales tax is 3.5%, so the town is "getting shorted" on sales tax revenue from "large construction projects, anything that requires a building permit." He told The Gazette that the rate "needs to be the same as our sales tax rate" and that "it's fair to everybody that way."

Streets and Stormwater05

The question commits all revenue to capital projects, including streets, roads, bridges and sidewalks, and stormwater improvements. If the measure passes, the ordinance also restricts the remaining 2% tax, including on vehicles, to capital projects. The town's 2027 preliminary budget designates the Capital Projects Fund, which receives the use tax, for curbs, gutters, concrete, asphalt repairs and the local match for Jackson Creek Parkway. The fund's tax revenue was $778,775 in 2025 and is budgeted at $1,000,000 for 2026. The town's budget presentation says it must identify "$7 million+" for the parkway's southbound lanes.

The town may collect, retain and spend the revenue and its investment earnings as a voter-approved revenue change under TABOR or any other law.

Sources06

Official documents

El Paso County certified sample ballot, November 3, 2026 election