“If our voters approve this reauthorization measure in November, we’ll be able to continue funding the many parks, trails, heritage areas and other projects that have become integral to the quality of life we enjoy throughout the County,” Arapahoe County Board Chair Nancy Jackson said in a statement earlier this year.Ĭommissioners have said that nearly three quarters of the current sales tax funds funnel back to the county’s dozen municipalities. Half of the tax dollars would remain shared with the county’s various cities and towns. The referred measure wouldn’t increase the current tax, but it would slightly rejigger certain allocations, bumping the percentage of dollars available for maintenance and reducing the pot available for the purchase of new space and trail creation. It could only be axed following an additional vote of the people. The question on this year’s ballot asks voters to approve the tax in perpetuity.
Following a re-authorization by voters in 2011, it is currently set to expire in 2023. The tax has netted about $360 million since it was first levied in 2004. First approved by voters in 2003, the tax benefits the maintenance and creation of the county’s 70 miles of trails, 168 parks and 31,000 acres of open space. The five-person board earlier this summer unanimously agreed to ask voters to extend a tax that charges residents a quarter of a penny on retail purchases made within Aurora’s largest county. (Photo by Trevor L Davis/Aurora Sentinel)ĪURORA | Arapahoe County Commissioners say residents in the region like their wide open spaces, and they’re asking residents to make permanent an existing sales tax to enhance and preserve a variety of parks, trails and preserves. Daniel Sprick makes a plenair painting on the High Line Canal Trail while waiting for his mechanic to finish with his car on Jin Aurora, CO.