Longmont council directs staff to draft three public-safety tax splits

Longmont City Council directed city staff Tuesday to draft three ways to divide a proposed public-safety tax between property and sales taxes. The council also approved, 6-1, a resolution supporting the measure’s placement on the ballot.

The actions came during the council’s Aug. 4 study session. The three options would raise the same projected amount, but the meeting record does not state that amount or identify an itemized spending plan:

• 50% property tax and 50% sales tax: about 4 mills of property tax.
• 40% property tax and 60% sales tax: about 3.25 mills.
• 30% property tax and 70% sales tax: about 2.44 mills.

Council members and the mayor referred generally to public safety and core services, including police and fire. They did not adopt specific staffing levels, programs or dollar allocations with the options.

Staff will return the following week with written ordinances for the council to consider. That is a scheduled next step, not a final selection. The city’s 2026 council schedule lists Aug. 11 as the next regular meeting. The Aug. 4 record does not include final ballot language, a confirmed election date or evidence that the measure had been filed or certified for a ballot.

The recorded Aug. 4 meeting shows Council Member Alison T. Coombs Christ as the lone dissent on the resolution. The record does not state her reason for the vote. During the discussion, she questioned whether shifting taxes could burden businesses, move economic activity out of Longmont or make housing less affordable. She also raised finding other sources of public-safety funding but did not explicitly identify those concerns as the reason for her dissent.

The alternative splits followed concerns related to the Longmont Economic Development Partnership about the mill rates and the potential burden on owners of large properties. Mayor Joan Peck said the alternatives were intended to avoid placing a large property-tax burden on those owners. The meeting record does not document a position from a named commercial property owner, business or business organization.

The council has not yet chosen a tax structure, stated the measure’s revenue target or specified how the proceeds would be spent. The available record also does not establish whether the measure will qualify for a ballot.