Orchard City's First Town Sales Tax

New tax or feeNew sales tax

Adds a 0.75% town sales tax for operations and services beginning January 1, 2027, with no end date.

Town of Orchard City

On the November 3, 2026 ballot

Kim's Recommendation

Vote No on Town of Orchard City Ballot Issue 2B

Orchard City collects no local tax today, and Ballot Issue 2B starts one on every taxable sale in town, with no end date. The purpose trustees have named first is code enforcement against neglected properties, with roads taking what is left. I oppose starting a permanent tax to pay for enforcing town rules on residents' property.

The question sends the money to the general fund for any operating cost, and the three uses it lists are examples. Once voters approve it, nothing in the question fixes what the tax pays for, and the tax continues whatever it goes to. A town that has served its residents without a local tax should keep that record.

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

Kim Monson

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

Certified ballot question

SHALL THE TOWN OF ORCHARD CITY’S TAXES BE INCREASED $210,000.00 ANNUALLY, COMMENCING ON JANUARY 1, 2027, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, BY THE IMPOSITION OF A SALES TAX AT A RATE OF THREE-QUARTERS OF ONE PERCENT (0.75%) PER DOLLAR OF TAXABLE TRANSACTIONS, WITH REVENUES DIRECTED TO THE GENERAL FUND TO SUPPORT THE OPERATIONAL AND SERVICE COSTS OF THE TOWN, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: 1. IMPROVING AND EXPANDING TOWN SERVICES, 2. RECRUITING AND RETAINING HIGH-QUALITY EMPLOYEES, AND 3. MAINTAINING AND IMPROVING ROADS; AND SHALL SUCH TAX REVENUES BE COLLECTED, RETAINED AND SPENT AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE AND AN EXCEPTION TO THE LIMITS WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE APPLY UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION OR ANY OTHER LAW?

A yes vote means

Approves the new 0.75% town sales tax and allows the town to retain and spend its revenue outside legal revenue limits.

A no vote means

Rejects this new sales tax and its revenue-limit exemption. Existing taxes remain.

Orchard City's Revenue Today01

Orchard City collects no sales tax, property tax or other local tax and relies mainly on money distributed from state and county tax revenue, Trustee Holly Mautz said in a High Country Spotlight candidate Q&A. The Spotlight's report on the town's 2025 audit listed grants, contributions, Delta County sales tax distributions, other taxes and interest earnings as the main sources of revenue, and an unassigned general fund balance of just over $5.4 million, up around $500,000 from the year before.

Ballot Issue 2B imposes a 0.75% town sales tax on taxable transactions from January 1, 2027, with no end date. As an example, at 0.75%, $100 of taxable purchases adds 75 cents. The question says the town's taxes increase by $210,000.00 a year "AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER." In the state's January 2026 rate table, DR 1002, the rates that apply in Orchard City are the state's 2.9%, Delta County's 2%, and the county's 0.80% public safety and 0.80% health services taxes, which add to 6.5%.

The tax rate now and what this measure adds

	Rate
Sales tax Town of Orchard City levies now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002)	0%
Added by this measure	0.75%

Delta County ballot, Town of Orchard City ballot issue 2B

General Fund Uses and Code Enforcement02

The revenue goes to the town's general fund "TO SUPPORT THE OPERATIONAL AND SERVICE COSTS OF THE TOWN, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO" three uses: improving and expanding town services, recruiting and retaining high-quality employees, and maintaining and improving roads. The question sets no share for any of them.

Trustees have tied the tax to code enforcement. The board approved the question unanimously on August 12, and the Delta County Independent reported it as a measure "asking for a 0.75% town sales tax to support town services, including code enforcement." The High Country Spotlight's report on that meeting said trustees had previously mentioned that the tax would help fund code enforcement, with leftover funds going toward road repair. In the Spotlight's March candidate Q&A, Trustee Wade Kasman wrote that a sales tax then being discussed would let the town address neglected properties and supplement road maintenance.

A Voter-Approved Revenue Change03

The town may collect, retain and spend the new tax's revenue as a voter-approved revenue change, an exception to the limits that would otherwise apply under the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution) "OR ANY OTHER LAW."

Added tax on taxable purchases

The new 0.75% tax would add $7.50 for every $1,000 of taxable purchases.

Example for $1,000 in taxable purchases

$1,000 × 0.0075 = $7.50

This estimates the added town tax, rounded to the nearest cent. It excludes existing taxes. Actual checkout rounding may differ.

Delta County sample ballot content, Town of Orchard City Ballot Issue 2B

Sources04

Official documents

Delta County sample ballot content, November 3, 2026 election