Ouray County

Ouray County Disaster Recovery and Resilience Sales Tax

New tax or feeNew sales tax

Adds a 0.5% countywide sales tax for disaster recovery, shared with Ouray and Ridgway; the rate drops to 0.3% after 2030 and then continues without an expiration.

Ouray County

Kim's Recommendation

Vote No on Ouray County Ballot Issue 1A

Issue 1A steps its countywide rate down in 2031 and then keeps 0.3% in place with no final year. I oppose making a new sales tax permanent to pay for disaster recovery and resilience.

The resolution says the board intends this money to add to the county's support for emergency services, not replace it. That goal rests on policies the board intends to write later, and the county's other spending on emergency services stays subject to each year's appropriation. The question also lets the county keep and spend what the tax raises each year, whatever the amount, outside TABOR's limits. I cannot support a tax with no ceiling on what it collects when the resolution states an intention to adopt policies to keep this revenue from replacing other county support, but does not establish those policies.

I recommend a no vote on Ouray County Ballot Issue 1A.

Kim Monson

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

Certified ballot question

SHALL OURAY COUNTY TAXES BE INCREASED $1,050,000 ANNUALLY (FIRST FULL FISCAL YEAR DOLLAR INCREASE IN 2027) BY IMPOSING AN ADDITIONAL 0.5% COUNTY-WIDE SALES TAX, DECLINING TO 0.3% AFTER DECEMBER 31, 2030 WITH REVENUES TO BE DIVIDED (70% TO OURAY COUNTY, 15% TO THE CITY OF OURAY AND 15% TO THE TOWN OF RIDGWAY), FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUNDING DISASTER RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE IN OURAY COUNTY, INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING: PROTECTING CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, FIRE MITIGATION, LANDSCAPE STABILIZATION, WATERSHED PROTECTION, SUPPORTING ECONOMIC RECOVERY, AND FUNDING THE COUNTY, CITY, AND TOWN, PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE AND RECOVERY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS, FOR DECLARED DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES; ALL IN ACCORDANCE WITH BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' RESOLUTION NO. 2026-019 AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGET LAWS, AND SHALL THE FIRST YEAR REVENUES, AND WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THEREAFTER, BE COLLECTED AND SPENT AS A VOTER APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE NOTWITHSTANDING ANY LIMITATION OR CONDITION UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION, C.R.S. 29-2-301 ET SEQ., AS AMENDED, OR ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW?

A yes vote means

Ouray County could impose the sales tax, divide it with the City of Ouray and the Town of Ridgway, and spend it outside TABOR's limits.

A no vote means

Ouray County would not receive authority for this sales tax.

A Lower Rate With No End01

Issue 1A adds a countywide sales tax of 0.5% on January 1, 2027. As an example, at 0.5%, $100 of taxable purchases in Ouray County adds 50 cents. Under Section 3 of Resolution 2026-019, as presented to the commissioners on August 25, the rate falls to 0.3% on January 1, 2031, and the resolution sets no date when the 0.3% stops.

The question puts the increase at $1,050,000 in 2027, the first full fiscal year. A yes vote lets the county collect and spend the first year's revenue, and whatever more the tax raises in later years, outside the limits of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, and of any other law.

The county levies 2.55% now: 1% for roads and bridges, 1% for the general fund and 0.55% for the courthouse project. Combined rates today are 9.45% in the City of Ouray, 9.05% in Ridgway and 5.45% elsewhere in the county, according to the resolution. Section 3 taxes what the state sales tax taxes, with the state's exemptions and nine local ones, among them the statutory exemptions for food, farm equipment, machinery and machine tools, and fuel.

The tax rate now and what this measure adds

	Rate
Ouray County's own sales tax now (as of January 1, 2026, DR 1002)	2.55%
Added by this measure	0.5%
After December 31, 2030	0.3%

Ouray County ballot, Ouray County Ballot Issue 1A

Cost at the Initial 0.5% Rate

Calculate the added tax on a taxable charge or purchase.

$100.00 in taxable purchases

$100.00 × 0.5% = $0.50.

This calculation uses the initial 0.5% added rate. After December 31, 2030, the added rate becomes 0.3%, or 30 cents per $100 of taxable purchases. Other sales taxes are separate.

Ouray County Ballot Issue 1A: rate stated in the question.

A Disaster Fund Split Three Ways02

The resolution says net revenue is intended to be shared among Ouray County (70%), the City of Ouray (15%) and the Town of Ridgway (15%). The county's share goes into a new Ouray County Disaster Recovery and Resilience Fund, which may not be transferred, pledged or spent for general county purposes unrelated to the fund. It is spent only by the commissioners' appropriation, or as allowed during a declared emergency under the county's multi-jurisdictional emergency operations plan.

Section 8 sets one list of uses for the county fund and for the city's and town's shares, among them emergency management, hazard mitigation, protection of roads, water systems and public facilities, debris removal, economic recovery and local matching money for state and federal aid.

Section 9 states the board's intent to set policies with the city and town on reserves, administrative costs and public reporting. It also states the intent to keep committing other county revenue to emergency services, subject to annual appropriations, so the tax adds to that support rather than replacing it.

The Gold Mountain Fire03

The resolution says the June 27, 2026, Gold Mountain Fire escalated to more than $50 million in total costs, with nearly 40,000 acres burned mostly in Ouray County, and left flood, debris-flow and erosion risks behind it. It says the county's Disaster Fund, drawn down by emergencies including the 2024 mudflows and the 2025 CR-361 rockfall, entered the fire with about $66,000, and that the city and town have no dedicated disaster funds. After President Donald Trump declared the fire a major federal disaster, commissioners said the potential federal money does not remove the need for the tax, the Ouray County Plaindealer reported.

Sources04

Official documents

Ouray County sample ballot, page 2 — November 3, 2026 election