Adds two percentage points to the town sales tax from January 1, 2027, for capital improvements, with no end date and authority to exceed the stated $400,000 in later years.
Town of Oak Creek
Kim's Recommendation
NO
Vote No on Town of Oak Creek Ballot Issue 2A
In April, Oak Creek trustees floated letting a sales tax expire after three or five years. The question they sent to the ballot has no end date, and I count that against it. An expiring tax would give residents a set time to judge whether the town's infrastructure got fixed.
I also object to how far the TABOR clause reaches. I will not recommend a waiver whose words cover all tax revenues deposited in the general fund, and all earnings on them, regardless of amount.
The relief on utility bills rests on the administrator's expectation; the question limits the money to capital improvements in general. By his account, residents face higher rates next year whatever happens to 2A. Trustee Sascha Stanger voted no mainly over taxing groceries, and I share his objection, because food is one of the costs already straining families.
I recommend a no vote on Town of Oak Creek 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 TOWN OF OAK CREEK TAXES BE INCREASED $400,000 ANNUALLY, COMMENCING JANUARY 1, 2027, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, FROM A SALES TAX RATE INCREASE OF 2.00% (WHICH REPRESENTS A TWO CENT INCREASE ON EACH DOLLAR) TO BE SPENT AS A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE WITH 100% OF THE REVENUES FROM THE SALES TAX RATE INCREASE TO BE DEPOSITED INTO THE GENERAL FUND AND EXPENDED SOLELY FOR THE CONSTRUCTION AND REHABILITATION OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS; AND SHALL ALL TAX REVENUES DEPOSITED IN SAID FUND AND ALL EARNINGS THEREON (REGARDLESS OF AMOUNT) CONSTITUTE A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE AND AN EXCEPTION TO THE REVENUE AND SPENDING LIMITS OF ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION?
A yes vote means
Oak Creek could add two percentage points to its sales tax for capital improvements and exempt tax revenues deposited in the general fund, and their earnings, from TABOR's revenue and spending limits.
A no vote means
This question would not authorize the sales tax increase or its revenue-limit exemption.
A Two-Point Town Sales Tax Increase01
Oak Creek has the lowest sales tax rate of the incorporated municipalities in Routt County, Town Administrator Louis Fineberg said in July. Ballot Issue 2A would raise the town's rate by two percentage points beginning January 1, 2027. The state's DR 1002 table lists 2.9% for the state, 1% for Routt County and 3% for Oak Creek; together those rows total 6.9% on a taxable purchase in town today. In April, while weighing a 1% tax, trustees floated a sunset clause that could end a tax after three or five years. The question on the ballot sets no end date.
The same ballot carries Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority Ballot Issue 7A, a separate half-cent sales tax that would also start January 1, 2027.
The tax rate now and what this measure adds
Rate
Town of Oak Creek's own sales tax now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002)
3%
Added by this measure
2%
Routt County ballot, Town of Oak Creek Ballot Issue 2A
Added Tax on a Purchase
The proposed increase is two cents per taxable dollar.
A $100 taxable purchase
$100 × 2% = $2 in additional town sales tax.
This shows only the proposed increase. Other sales taxes would still apply. Use the taxable purchase amount before tax.
Additional town sales tax
Enter a nonnegative dollar amount with no more than two decimal places.
Oak Creek Ballot Issue 2A: a two-cent increase on each dollar.
Capital Improvements in the General Fund02
The question states $400,000 a year, plus whatever additional amounts the tax raises in later years. Fineberg estimated in July that a 2% tax would generate roughly $360,000 a year on current figures. The town would deposit the revenue in its general fund and could spend it solely on constructing and rehabilitating capital improvements. The question names no projects. Fineberg told trustees the money could be leveraged for larger grant-funded projects, "between a $500,000 and $1 million infrastructure project" each year, and said, "This will fix your infrastructure in 10 years."
Oak Creek's Water System Costs03
On July 9, trustees heard a utility rate study that recommended rate increases for the town's electric, water and wastewater systems, including 15% wastewater increases in each of the next two years. The increases would raise the average residential bill by about $26 a month in 2027 and another $29 in 2028. The town's 2024 water loss study found that Oak Creek loses an average of 78.5% of its water per year; a full upgrade of the water system would cost over $14.3 million in 2024 figures, the Steamboat Pilot reported.
Fineberg said residents will see rate increases next year either way, but that passing the tax "will mean in all likelihood that the rate increases won't be as severe."
Keeping Revenue Above TABOR Limits04
A second clause, which refers back to the general fund, asks that "all tax revenues deposited in said fund and all earnings thereon (regardless of amount)" count as a voter-approved revenue change and an exception to the revenue and spending limits of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, or TABOR.
How the Trustees Voted05
Trustees referred the measure 3-1 on July 23, with two of the six absent. Bernard Gagne, Julie Gregory and Erika Pastor voted yes. Sascha Stanger voted no, mainly over taxing groceries. The state's DR 1002 table lists no exemptions for the town's tax, so it applies to food for home consumption, which the state and Routt County exempt.
