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Local ballot measures that will send new money to child care efforts across Colorado did pretty well at the polls this year, with voters approving six of nine proposals.
Sales tax measures in Larimer County and a western Colorado mountain resort region passed, as did lodging tax measures in Gilpin, Hinsdale, and Ouray counties. A lodging tax measure in Eagle County was passing by a narrow margin Thursday, but a county spokesperson said it’s possible the result could change as additional ballots are counted or cured in the coming days.
Voters in Chaffee, Custer, and Lincoln counties rejected lodging tax hikes on Election Day.
Together, the nine ballot measures represented a record number of local pitches for funding to support efforts that would create new child care seats or take other steps to help working parents and child care businesses. The blitz of ballot measures comes at a time when some state and federal funding is receding, and counties and other jurisdictions are looking for ways to fill the gap. Over the last several years, Colorado lawmakers have also given communities new ways to raise local money and more flexibility in spending it.
In Hinsdale County, the lodging tax increase will raise $240,000 a year, with about $50,000 going to child care efforts. The new funding will help boost staff wages at Wee Care, one of two licensed child care facilities in the county.
“We were so excited and relieved,” Lily Virden, a Wee Care board member, said of the lodging tax win.
Wages are so low at the center — the director makes about $20 an hour — that it’s hard to keep staff, she said. Last year, the center had to close on 21 days it was scheduled to be open because employees were sick or absent, and there was no way to staff it properly.
The lodging tax proceeds earmarked for child care may also be used to provide tuition assistance to families or stipends to child care employees so they can buy health insurance — a benefit not currently offered at Wee Care, Virden said.
The four lodging taxes approved Tuesday bring the number of Colorado communities that allow proceeds from such levies to be used for child care efforts to more than a dozen. Last year, voters in La Plata and Grand counties and the City of Montrose approved such taxes and in 2023, the town of Ridgway in southwestern Colorado did. Summit, Clear Creek, and San Juan counties, and towns like Estes Park, also have lodging taxes that allocate a portion for early childhood efforts.
Especially in Colorado’s tourist destinations, lodging taxes are an appealing way to generate funding because they generally apply to out-of-town visitors staying at hotels or short-term rentals, not locals.
Such taxes became even more versatile in 2022, when state lawmakers expanded allowable uses for lodging tax proceeds to include housing and child care among other things. The idea is that local workers power the tourism industry, so visitors should contribute to efforts that support a stable workforce.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
