Construction groups are pushing a ballot measure that would require Colorado to spend all motor vehicle and gas tax revenue on fixing the state’s roads, diverting more than $500 million a year from other priorities.
is now gathering signatures for , which would cement the road-spending requirement into the state’s constitution.
Already and 43 groups, including the Colorado Hospital Association, Colorado Education Association, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Conservation Colorado, and GreenLatinos, have lined up in opposition — even before the Secretary of State decides whether Initiative 175 qualifies for the November ballot.
But Restore Our Roads is gaining support among voters approached for signatures, said Tony Milo, director of the , which is backing the measure along with the . “It is overwhelmingly ‘Heck. Yes. Where do I sign?’ “ Milo said.
“We are not spending enough money on roads. Voters know it. They know the taxes they are paying on motor vehicles and for using motor vehicles aren’t going toward roads. They’re frustrated about that,” he said.
Changing the constitution is necessary, “because if we just go for a statutory change, we have no confidence that the General Assembly won’t change it next year,” Milo said. “It’s been death by 1,000 cuts for our roads. It’s time to reverse the trend of us continuing to go backwards on our roads.”
Roads in Colorado are deteriorating, according to the latest by the . “Poor funding,” combined with mountainous terrain, extreme weather, and increased congestion, has left only 34% of state-owned roads in good condition, compared with 45% nationally, the ASCE report said. Engineers found more than a quarter of state-owned roads in poor condition in Colorado Springs (28%), Denver (33%), Grand Junction (27%) and Pueblo (37%).
plan in 2022 estimated in funding needed to fully maintain state-owned roads. However, CDOT director Shoshana Lew this month told transportation commissioners that the stretches of interstate highways with around the state have decreased from 3.9 % in 2021 to 1.6%.
Initiative 175
If Restore Our Roads proponents gather enough signatures, voters will decide whether state revenue collected from transportation-related sources should be used only on “road transportation,” defined as building and fixing roads and bridges, improving driver safety, covering road planning and engineering costs, and funding the Colorado State Patrol.
Motor vehicle sales tax and gas tax revenues, and two-thirds of the taxes on sales of vehicle parts, would go into the state’s . CDOT would spend 60% of the funds. County and municipal governments would spend 40%.
The signatures are due to the on May 27 for review to determine whether the measure will be on the ballot.
“It sounds so simple,” Sen. William Lindstedt, a Broomfield Democrat, said. “But what it really does is take money away from our critical functions and services in this state. If it passed, it would threaten hospitals through Medicaid. It would threaten public schools. It would affect emergency services, such as ambulance rides.”
Lawmakers want Restore Our Roads leaders to “come to the table” and “have a discussion about how we fund infrastructure that is grounded in our fiscal reality,” Lindstedt said.
“The door is open. It has been open. We’d love to have a dialogue about how we can better fund our roads as well as all our public services,” he said. “This measure is a major threat to a lot of Colorado public services right now.”
Transportation future
While most Coloradans want properly maintained roads, Restore Our Roads clashes with voters’ broader wishes, said Matt Frommer, transportation and land use policy manager for the , an environmental advocacy group.
“We want more transportation options,” including public transit, bicycling and walking, “rather than just having to drive everywhere,” Frommer said. The hundreds of millions of dollars for roads that proponents are seeking “is far beyond the small amount of money that we put into transit and electrification,” he said.
A Colorado Legislative Council of Initiative 175 found that, in addition to drawing $538 million from the general fund, the measure also would divert $155 million from transit-related cash funds and special accounts. “Should this measure pass, balancing the budget without major cuts to Medicaid, K-12 education, and higher education will be nearly impossible,” state analysts said.
Colorado’s state budget has increased to $46.8 billion. Lawmakers have been making cuts to address a $1.5 billion shortfall. The discretionary general fund contains about $17.4 billion.
Earlier this month, the lawmakers and groups opposed to Restore Our Roads sent urging proponents to withdraw the initiative. “The problem is, the measure takes existing sales tax revenue without adding new dollars to the general fund, diverting funds from important programs that need continued funding, forcing the general assembly to cut other programs in order to free up additional general fund,” the groups wrote.
Restore Our Roads leaders responded in a letter last week.
“We remain open to a constructive path forward and are willing to meet anytime with you to discuss alternative road funding solutions, provided they are permanent and significant enough to address the problem,” they wrote. “Colorado’s transportation challenges are the result of years of delay and diversion. Initiative 175 is a direct response to that reality. The real question is not whether we can afford to act – it is how much longer we can afford not to.”
