Taxes – love them or hate them – fund essential government services and community projects that shape life in Durango.
Consumers in Durango pay an 8.4% sales tax on most purchases – 8.4 cents per dollar spent. That total includes taxes collected by the state of Colorado (2.9%), La Plata County (2%) and the city of Durango (3.5%).
Durango’s share – the largest portion of the pie at 41.7% – can be divided into five slices that benefit the general fund, capital improvement projects, street improvements, multimodal efforts, and parks, trails and open space. The county accounts for 23.8% of the pie, and the state makes up the remaining 34.5%.
Voters will decide whether to renew a half-cent sales tax approved in 2005 that sunsets next year. Reauthorizing the sales tax would extend it by 30 years through 2056. Not reauthorizing the tax would allow it to expire next year.
Ballots were sent Monday to city voters, and eligible electors have until 7 p.m. April 1 to cast a ballot.
Compared with Golden and Louisville – two Colorado cities with population sizes similar to Durango’s 20,000 residents – Durango’s combined tax rate is average. Golden has a 3% city tax and a 7.5% combined rate, while Louisville’s city tax is 3.7% with a combined rate of 8.9%.
Here’s how Durango’s 8.4% combined sales tax rate breaks down:
Durango collects a flat 2% sales tax for its general fund. That tax raised $21.6 million in 2024.
The general fund supports the police department; fire district; the city’s information technology, parks and recreation departments; and the city’s community development department, said Tom Sluis, city spokesman.
City voters in 2005 approved a half-cent sales tax to fund capital improvement projects and parks, trails and open space amenities. Half of the tax goes toward capital improvements and half goes toward parks, trails and open space.
The tax has funded Florida Road improvements, construction of a new public library, open space acquisitions, and numerous parks and trail projects. Most recently, the city used $3 million to purchase Buckley Park in downtown Durango.
The half-cent sales tax is set to expire next year. It raised $5.4 million in 2024.
In 2015, city voters approved a half-cent sales tax to fund parks and multimodal infrastructure developments and improvements. The tax raised $5.4 million in 2024.
The tax was a continuation of a 1999 half-cent sales tax that was scheduled to sunset if voters did not extend it, according to an April 7, 2015, City Council agenda summarizing city election results. The tax is currently set to expire in 2039.
The tax has been used to fund many of the city’s bicycle, pedestrian and transit projects, said Devin King, multimodal manager. That includes conceptual designs for a long-requested underpass across Camino del Rio that the public will be asked to weigh in on later this year. It is also being used to fund a reconfiguration of East Eighth Avenue and College Drive, scheduled for construction this summer.
According to an impact report from the Parks and Recreation Department, $9 million is earmarked for parks projects this year, including nearly $2 million for development of park access at Durango Mesa Park.
Approved in 2019, the half-cent sales tax has paid for numerous road improvements across the city, which include curb, gutter and repaving work like that seen in the reconstruction of county roads 250 and 251, or the milling and overlay work on Suttle Street and Bodo Drive in 2020, said Public Works spokeswoman Laura Rieck.
Like the city’s other half-cent sales taxes, the 2019 streets tax raised $5.4 million in 2024. The tax is set to expire in 2029.
La Plata County’s 2% sales tax rate is divvied up among the county and its municipalities. Half of it is distributed among the county and its municipalities for general services, and the other half is distributed between Ignacio, Bayfield, La Plata County and the joint sales tax fund.
The state of Colorado’s 2.9% sales tax rate is passed through to the state’s general fund, where revenues contribute to state programs such as education, health care, human services, corrections, the Legislature and the governor’s office, according to the Colorado General Assembly.
The city is seeking to renew the 2005 sales tax to help fund a new city hall and police station.
Reauthorizing the tax would repay debt taken on by the city to renovate the historic former high school at 201 East 12th St. and the adjacent former Big Picture High School. It would also continue funding parks, open space and trails maintenance, upgrades and acquisitions.
If voters reject the measure, Durango’s total combined sales tax rate would be shaved from 8.4% to 7.9%.
City Manager José Madrigal said balancing the benefits of taxes with their financial impacts to residents “is always a key consideration.”
“Generally, a thoughtful approach involves clear communication about the purpose of a tax, ensuring transparency in how funds are used, and demonstrating the tangible benefits to the community,” he said.
cburney@durangoherald.com
