Pueblo West's 1% sales tax for fire protection is set to expire on December 31, 2030. Ballot Issue 6B extends it at 1% with no end date. The ballot limits the money and its investment income to fire protection, including firefighters and staff at existing and future stations, fire apparatus and equipment, and fire department facilities. The district may collect, retain and spend all of the revenue as a voter-approved revenue change and an exception to the limits of Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (TABOR), and any other applicable law. The 2026 question does not repeat the 2020 dedicated-fund and citizens-committee terms. It does not explicitly repeal those existing requirements. The district's explanation says that if 6B fails, the tax remains scheduled to expire in 2030.
Pueblo West Fire Sales Tax Extension
In 2020 Pueblo West voters approved this tax on the district's terms: ten years, a dedicated fund and a citizens committee reporting every year. When collections outgrew the ballot's figure, the district came back to them in 2022, and they kept the 2030 end date in place. Ballot Issue 6B removes the end date, makes no provision for the committee, and it keeps every future dollar outside the TABOR limits with no year set for voters to decide it again.
I credit the department with what Station 2 has done for response times on the southwest side. That record belongs in front of voters as 2030 approaches, on a new term with the oversight the first tax carried. I want a tax like this one to return to the people who pay it, and 6B takes that away.
I recommend a no vote on Pueblo West Metropolitan District Ballot Issue 6B.
SHALL THE PUEBLO WEST METROPOLITAN DISTRICT TAXES BE INCREASED $5 MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THERAFTER, BY THE EXTENSION OF AND PERMANENT APPROVAL OF AN EXISTING ONE PERCENT (1%) SALES TAX, CURRENTLY SET TO EXPIRE ON DECEMBER 31, 2030, WITH NO INCREASE IN THE TAX RATE, AND WITH THE PROCEEDS OF SUCH TAX, INCLUDING ANY INVESTMENT INCOME THEREFROM, TO BE USED SOLELY FOR FIRE PROTECTION PURPOSES, INCLUDING: 1. FUNDING FIREFIGHTERS AND STAFF AT EXISTING AND/OR FUTURE FIRE STATIONS; 2. ACQUIRING, REPLACING, AND MAINTAINING FIRE APPARATUS, EQUIPMENT, AND OTHER CAPITAL NEEDS TO PROTECT FIREFIGHTERS AND RESPOND TO EMERGENCY CALLS; AND 3. CONSTRUCTING, OPERATING, MAINTAINING, AND IMPROVING FIRE DEPARTMENT FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE; AND SHALL ALL REVENUES FROM SUCH TAX BE COLLECTED, RETAINED, AND SPENT AS A VOTER-APPROVED REVENUE CHANGE AND AN EXCEPTION TO THE LIMITS ON REVENUE AND SPENDING UNDER ARTICLE X, SECTION 20 OF THE COLORADO CONSTITUTION (TABOR) AND ANY OTHER APPLICABLE LAW?
Pueblo West's 1% sales tax for fire protection would continue permanently after 2030.
The existing tax would remain scheduled to expire on December 31, 2030; this vote would not end it immediately.
The question asks whether district taxes shall be "INCREASED $5 MILLION DOLLARS ANNUALLY, AND BY WHATEVER ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS ARE RAISED ANNUALLY THERAFTER." The district's page on 6B says the figure "reflects the revenue authorization required to be stated in a TABOR ballot question" and that the measure does not raise the 1% rate. In 2023 the Pueblo Chieftain reported that the tax had been generating between $2.7 million and $2.8 million a year.
The board set the final wording in Resolution 2026-058, adopted 5 to 0 on August 24, 2026, which added the first-year revenue figure its August 10 resolution had left out.
At the existing rate, $100 in taxable purchases carries $1 of fire tax. Approval would continue that tax beyond 2030.
$100 in taxable purchases
$100 × 1 ÷ 100 = $1.00 of the existing tax.
This is the existing tax proposed for permanent continuation, not a new percentage point or an increase in the current rate. Exempt purchases and other taxes are excluded.
Pueblo West voters rejected a fire tax in November 2019, 5,346 votes to 4,513. In 2020 they approved Ballot Issue 6A, 11,125 to 8,273: "A TEMPORARY 1% SALES TAX THAT SHALL SUNSET TEN YEARS AFTER ITS IMPLEMENTATION," at $2,500,000 a year, ending December 31, 2030, with a dedicated fund and a citizens oversight committee to report each year on the spending.
The 2020 question's $2,500,000 figure limited what the district could keep. In 2022 voters approved Ballot Issue 6D, 9,740 to 6,215, letting the district keep up to $5,000,000 in 2023 and whatever the tax collected after that. The December 31, 2030, end date stayed.
The tax paid for Fire Station 2. In December 2024 KOAA reported that it had also paid for 17 additional personnel and a $1.4 million ladder truck, and Deputy Chief JJ King said response times in the southwest part of town had dropped from 15 minutes to four or five after Station 2 opened. In March 2026 district leaders projected a shortfall of about $3.55 million a year beginning in the 2030-2031 fiscal period, tied to the tax's end, FOX21 reported.
Ballot Issue 6C, on the same ballot, lets the district keep revenue above the TABOR and state property tax limits for parks and recreation, not for the fire department.
- Pueblo West Metropolitan District Resolution 2026-058, Superseding Resolution 2026-055 - Permanent 1 Percent Sales Tax for Fire ProtectionBoard of Directors, Pueblo West Metropolitan District · Aug 24, 2026
- 2026 General Election sample ballot (all contests)Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder
- Board of Directors meeting packet, August 24, 2026 (Resolution 2026-058 and July financial statements)Pueblo West Metropolitan District · Aug 24, 2026The source is the Pueblo West Metropolitan District Board of Directors meeting packet for August 24, 2026, and it includes a staff report and proposed resolution seeking formal reapproval of corrected ballot language for a permanent 1% sales tax for fire protection for the November 3, 2026 election.
- Board of Directors meeting packet, August 10, 2026 (fire tax staff report and Resolution 2026-055)Pueblo West Metropolitan District · Aug 10, 2026Pueblo West Metropolitan District meeting packet stating Resolution 2026-055 approves ballot language for the permanent levy of a 1% sales tax.
- Board of Directors special meeting minutes (midyear report), July 17, 2026Pueblo West Metropolitan District · Jul 17, 2026Pueblo West Metropolitan District's July 17, 2026 special-meeting (midyear report) minutes mention the question only in one sentence noting staff's continued preparation for the Fire Department Funding Permanency ballot initiative.
- Fire Protection Sales Tax (6B)Pueblo West Metropolitan DistrictPueblo West Metropolitan District's web page on the question.
- Sales and Property TaxesPueblo West Metropolitan DistrictPueblo West Metropolitan District web page titled Sales and Property Taxes.
- Pueblo West Fire Department shows how they're using voter-approved sales taxKOAA News5 · Nov 12, 2025KOAA News5 story stating the Pueblo West Fire Department is using the voter-approved sales tax.
- 'Without it, we would be hurting,' Pueblo West Fire Department says a fire sales tax is helping them growKOAA News5 · Dec 17, 2024KOAA News5 story stating the 1% sales tax passed in 2020 allowed the fire department to hire 17 additional people.
- Pueblo West finalizes construction budget on new fire station, releases audit lettersThe Pueblo Chieftain · Jul 25, 2023Pueblo Chieftain news story stating the board approved an amended contract using 1% sales tax funds for Fire Station 2 construction.
- Pueblo West voters pass ballot issue 6D expanding Pueblo Metropolitan Fire District funding by $2.5 millionKOAA News5 · Nov 10, 2022KOAA News5 story stating Pueblo West voters passed the measure to increase the spending cap on funds from the 1% sales tax.
- Ballot Measure 6A: Pueblo voters approve sales tax increase for upgrades to Pueblo West Fire DepartmentKOAA News5 · Nov 3, 2020KOAA News5 story stating Pueblo voters approved a sales tax increase for upgrades to the Pueblo West Fire Department.
- Pueblo West Fire Department to ask for sales tax to cover safety costsKOAA News5 · Jul 9, 2020KOAA News5 story stating Pueblo West Fire Department will ask for a sales tax to cover safety costs.
Show 1 more
- Ballot question failure will impact Pueblo West fire servicesKOAA News5 · Nov 15, 2019KOAA News5 story stating that the failure of the Pueblo West ballot measure to increase taxes could impact fire services.
- Ballot Issue No. 6A: notice of election to increase taxes (2020)Pueblo West Metropolitan District · Nov 3, 2020Pueblo West Metropolitan District notice stating the 2020 election referred a measure to increase taxes.
- 2022 sample ballot, Pueblo West ballot measuresPueblo County Clerk and RecorderPueblo County Clerk and Recorder's record of an earlier ballot question.