The Unfair Tax will raise the excise tax rate on ticket sales from 5% to 9.03% on local businesses in Manitou Springs, such as the Iron Springs Chateau, the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, Adventures Out West Ziplines, the Cliff Dwellings Museum and Manitou Comedy Festival.

Ballot Issue 2A contains no binding commitment explaining how the additional $1.2 million will be spent. It raises unrestricted and unlimited funds for any purpose with no policy direction from voters or accompanying ordinance. Voters are again being asked to approve new revenue first and trust City Council to decide later where the money goes. That trust has not been earned.

Manitou Springs’ sales-tax rate is 3.9%—not 9.03%. The 9.03% figure combines taxes imposed by four separate governments: 2.9% for the State of Colorado, 1.23% for El Paso County, 1% for PPRTA and 3.9% for the City. The City’s own website confirms this breakdown. Manitou already collects a higher local tax on amusement admissions—5%—than the 3.9% City sales tax imposed on ordinary retail purchases. Raising the amusement tax to 9.03% would not make the two City tax rates equal. It would make the City’s amusement tax alone equal to the entire combined sales tax imposed by the City, county, state and regional transportation authority. And keep in mind – attractions operators pay sales tax on retail items on top of the amusement tax on admissions!

Characterizing the difference between Manitou’s sales tax rate and its amusement tax rate as some kind of “loophole” that is exploited by Manitou’s attractions operators is false and misleading. Council must stop treating tax increases and parking takeovers as substitutes for responsible financial management. How can voters have confidence in sending more unrestricted revenue to a City that has not demonstrated that it can manage the revenue it already has?

The City claims it has made $1.3 million in budget reductions since 2024. However, its own explanation says that figure is measured against initial departmental requests. The City does not identify $1.3 million in reductions from previously adopted spending, provide a year-by-year accounting, or show that actual expenditures declined by that amount. It also acknowledges that the final 2026 budget outcome will not be known until the 2026 audit is completed in July 2027.

Budget cuts never materialized through the transparent, line-by-line process this financial situation demands. Instead, voters are being presented with another tax increase on the same local amusement operators.

During Council’s August 15th budget meeting, staff told Council they still would have to cut another $2.5 million by 2029 to maintain a 30% reserve level in the event 2A passes - $1 million in 2027; $700,000 in 2028 and $800,000 in 2029. The Unfair Tax proponents’ website says, “A yes vote this November ‘can’ keep our public parks open, keep the community pool and fitness center running…” - another of many misleading and outright false claims made by tax proponents. Passing 2A does NOT fix Manitou’s structural deficit, nor does it preserve services and amenities from consideration for cuts next year.

It won’t go away. Unlike some temporary sales and excise tax increases referred by other cities to the ballot with an expiration date, the 2A tax increase is permanent. Because it is a forever tax, the City doesn’t allow voters to renew the tax in a later year. Not only does 2A nearly double the amusement tax rate, it also permanently removes any revenue cap limits from the tax. There are no limits to how much revenue the city can raise with this tax increase. It raises unrestricted funds for any purpose with no policy direction from voters or accompanying ordinance.

At 9.03%, Manitou residents pay the highest combined sales taxes in El Paso County. Though many tourist towns and cities tax visitors, at 9.03% Manitou Springs will have the highest amusement tax on general tourist attractions in Colorado if ballot issue 2A passes.