Election 2020: These are the local tax measures you could see on your Greeley ballot
By Kelly Ragan
We’re going to guess that local tax measures are one of the last things on your mind as you’ve navigated 2020 so far. We don’t blame you. But as we get closer to November 3, it’s time to pay attention.
What tax measures could you see on Greeley’s ballot this year?
This year, Greeley city council has discussed renewing two tax measures – the Food Tax and the Keep Greeley Moving tax. Both will be familiar to long-time Greeley residents.
Back in March (before, you know, the world shut down), city councilmembers set a goal to put both taxes on the November 2020 ballot.
Strategies 360, a company based in Denver, conducted a poll to see how people felt about both taxes.
The Food Tax
The tax is a 3% sales tax on groceries. The money raised by it goes toward repair and replacement of public buildings, rec facilities and streets.
On June 23, Alex Dunn, research director at Strategies 360, said attitudes were positive on the Food Tax.
The poll in June found many in the community felt streets and sidewalks could use additional funding:
20% thought street and sidewalk conditions were poor
40% thought street and sidewalk conditions were fair
36% thought street and sidewalk conditions were good
4% thought street and sidewalk conditions were great
“Folks have an appetite for additional improvements,” Dunn said. “I think that’s notable because in many communities, folks don’t give the benefit of the doubt to municipalities.”
But, obviously, things change quickly these days, and a month could be just about equivalent to a year in the blursdays of a pandemic.
Strategies 360 plans to conduct another survey this week and present its findings at a special city council meeting next week.
The Food Tax was first approved in 1990 and has been going strong the last 30 years. The city is poised to ask voters to extend the tax out until 2026.
Between 2014-18, the Food Tax funded:
$5.7 million for park maintenance
$6.9 million for building maintenance
$500K for traffic signal maintenance
$29.7 million for street maintenance
$1.8 million for ADA accessibility
If voters choose to renew the tax, the city estimates it would generate $45 million in revenue during the next five years.
In June, Strategies 360 found 72% of poll respondents supported the tax, with 37% strongly committed to supporting it.
“Support is quite high, even among lower income households,” Dunn said in June. “But there is room for them to slide if jobs are lost in the fall.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Greeley Area Economic Summary, Greeley’s and Weld County’s unemployment rate hit 10.1% in June, the most recent data on the website. In 2019, unemployment in Greeley and Weld County was 2.8%.
Keep Greeley Moving tax
Greeley voters first approved the .65% retail sales and use tax in 2015. It uses it to fund road improvements and repairs.
Since its inception in 2015, this is what the city has done with the money it collected:
$3.2 million for concrete repairs (38,631 linear feet of sidewalks)
$3.3 million on seal coat for nearly 50 miles of roadway
$3.4 million to patch 54,298 square yards of roadway
$16.9 million to overlay 29.76 miles of roadway
$1.3 million to apply 794,296 pounds of crack seal
$13 million for roadway expansion work, including at 20th Street and 71st Avenue
If the tax is approved as is, it would generate about $80.5 million in seven years, according to city projections. As it stands, the tax is set to expire Dec. 31, 2022.
Strategies 360 will do another poll for this tax and present the results during a special meeting Aug. 26.
Paul Fetherston, assistant city manager, said at the meeting that the city could not risk the Food Tax failing.
“If the council has concern that both might not pass if they go at the same time, I’d say go forward with the food tax,” said city manager Roy Otto at the June 23 meeting. “The Food Tax has been renewed roughly every time it’s had an opportunity to since 1990.”
Why ask now if the tax doesn’t expire until 2022?
This is normal. That extra time lets local governments ask again, and differently, if the measure fails. It also gives the city wiggle room if it wants to put the Food Tax on the ballot this year and Keep Greeley Moving on the ballot next year.
What’s next?
City council will hold a special meeting to learn about feedback from up-to-date Strategies 360 polling data.
There will then be a second reading and a chance for public input.