Niwot Three-Percent Marijuana Sales Tax

Under Issue 304, a new City of Niwot may levy a 3% special sales tax on retail marijuana and retail marijuana products, beginning January 1, 2028. The question states a first-full-fiscal-year increase of $60,000; after that, the tax raises whatever 3% of qualifying sales brings in. It names no use for the money and sets no end date.

The question covers sales of retail marijuana and its products to consumers, to retail marijuana stores and to retail marijuana product manufacturers, as state law authorizes. The Niwot Election Commission's summary says the tax applies only if retail marijuana businesses operate in Niwot.

The tax exists only if Question 300 creates the municipality. A no on 300 ends the process with no municipality formed, the Election Commission says; a yes leads to an incorporation order from the Boulder County District Court. If both 300 and 304 pass, the governing body must adopt an ordinance establishing the tax, consistent with the ballot, before imposing it.

The tax comes in addition to any other sales tax Niwot levies, so a purchase that Issue 302's general sales tax also reaches would carry both if both pass. The question includes a retention clause: the city may collect, keep and spend all the revenue and its earnings as a voter-approved revenue change under Article X, Section 20 of the state constitution, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights. Without such approval, the municipality must refund revenue collected above that amendment's limit, the Election Commission explains in its summary of Issue 305. Keeping this tax's revenue therefore does not depend on Issue 305. The Election Commission ties the road bonds in Issue 306 to the sales and use tax in Issue 302.

The Niwot Incorporation Committee's pro forma budget, version 1.8 of September 21, 2026, forecasts $50,000 from the tax in 2028. It models one retail outlet with estimated sales of $1.67 million a year, below the Boulder County average of $3.2 million a store. The ballot's first-year figure is higher than that forecast.

The budget treats marijuana revenue as a marginal line item that core services do not rely on, and it says collections may vary and could decline over time depending on regional market conditions. THK Associates, which reviewed the budget for the committee, wrote that the $50,000 estimate appears to be justified, given the one existing outlet and the per-store average of other Boulder County outlets.