AURORA | About half of Arapahoe County residents said they support the county potentially raising sales taxes, according to survey results.
In February, the county conducted a survey on residents’ opinions about public services as well as their thoughts on the county’s capabilities to lead and support the public. The survey results are available to view online. According to a press statement from the county, 2,875 residents responded to the survey.
According the survey, 55% of Arapahoe County residents said they would support a 0.25% sales tax increase, which would cost the average household an extra $52 per year and raise up to $45 million annually.
Half of the residents said they would support a measure to allow the county to retain revenue above TABOR limits — also known as ‘de-Brucing’ — which would cost the owner of a $500,000 home about $155 per year and raise up to $75 million annually.
Commissioners say they are months away from making any decision on potential ballot questions, according to the press statement. However, public input, they said, will help with direct their decision.
The survey results also show that 52% of people surveyed prioritized reducing crime and improving public safety. And 31% of people want to see the county create more affordable housing and homeownership opportunities. While 60% of people said that road conditions were “fair” or “poor, only 39% said it was a top priority.
The public’s “perception about the county’s financial future sits at odds with its budget reality as one-time federal funding will soon dry up and as inflation and population growth stretch the County’s budget further,” according to the press statement.
“It’s ironic that nearly two-thirds of survey respondents think we have the financial resources needed to deliver on these essential services,” Board Chair Carrie Warren-Gully said in the press statement. “Because without additional revenue, the County is facing significant budget cuts come 2025.”
Growth in the county’s budget has been flat for 25 years, despite increasing costs, record population growth and demands for programs like the ones funded by the American Rescue Plan Act. Without an increase in revenue, county leadership will be forced to make more significant cuts in services, affecting businesses and residents. Programs and services across all areas and departments are likely to be affected, according to a county press statement.
Money from the American Rescue Plan Act, aimed at preventing homelessness and boosting affordable housing, has essentially all been used and won’t be repeated.
In February, the county said that only $1 million of the $126.5 million received from the American Rescue Plan Act remain unallocated. The remaining money will need to be allocated by the end of 2024.
Having worked for the State of Colorado, I would urge every citizen to NEVER vote for a tax increase until our elected officials can demonstrate they can properly manage their finances and ensure that every citizen is paying their fair share. Governments at every level do nothing to promote fiscal responsibility (except talk about it during election campaigns), and see tax revenue is simply and endless supply of funding for them to mismanage. This issue is party agnostic; don’t blame just Republicans or Democrats or Independents, they’re all culpable.
Governments need to cut the fat and get rid of private contractors that are over-charging the taxpayers at every possible turn.
Please, do your research and understand how your tax money is being spent. Use the open records act to get information on how the budgets are managed.
“52% of people surveyed prioritized reducing crime and improving public safety. And 31% of people want to see the county create more affordable housing and homeownership opportunities. While 60% of people said that road conditions were “fair” or “poor” AND, get this: ““It’s ironic that nearly two-thirds of survey respondents think we have the financial resources needed to deliver on these essential services,”
I would love to see a meeting with a white board for brain storming to see how to really address these issues. We need the figures as well to ensure the public knows what the current services are budgeted for and what these additional services cost to ascertain what a $100 million dollar tax increase would solve?
Let’s see if I have this correct. A governmental unit, (Arapahoe County) puts out a survey and gets less than 3,000 responses out of 650,000 citizens and claims half it’s citizens want more taxes and less TABOR refunds. Then they get this Sentinel Blog to pass this information along.
A bit of self serving statistical reviewing by both Arapahoe County and this Sentinel Blog, don’t you think?
Yeah, this is a very poor opening sentence to this article: “About half of Arapahoe County residents said they support the county potentially raising sales taxes, according to survey results. ”
One cannot extrapolate that half of the 2875 respondents equates to the feelings of half of the entire county’s residents. Come on Sentinel, your reporting staff can/should do better if you want the citizens to regain trust in the free press.
I took this survey. It was written to get the answers its authors wanted. To cover themselves. It was also accessible to anyone who wanted to game the system. Do you think activists (as well as the liberal-dominated commission) got the word out to the people they wanted to take this statistically insignificant poll? I do.
As long as Arapaho County is supporting “harm reduction” my family and my neighbors will not be supporting a tax increase. It is simply backward to supply people free tools to poison their body rather than the tools to calm their addiction.
Government creates a problem.
Government raises taxes to fix problem. Rinse and repeat
Federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act was always temporary funding. It is ridiculous to expect those funds to be replaced by local taxpayers or for those targeted pandemic programs to continue.