Front Range voters will decide whether to tax themselves for a train to Pueblo. What Issue 7A would buy

Ballots for Colorado’s November 3 election are in voters’ hands, and for residents along much of the Front Range they include a question that has nothing to do with the statewide measures getting most of the attention. Ballot Issue 7A asks voters in the Front Range Passenger Rail District whether to raise the sales tax to pay for passenger trains between Fort Collins and Pueblo.

It is one of the largest local transportation questions in Colorado in years, and it has been complicated by an administrative error that sent the question to hundreds of thousands of people who are not eligible to answer it.

The Front Range Passenger Rail District was created by the state legislature in 2021 to plan, build and operate passenger rail along the Interstate 25 corridor, and it has the authority to ask voters within its boundaries to approve taxes. Issue 7A is the first time it has done so. Because the district covers only part of the state, the question appears on some ballots and not others, which is part of what made this year’s mailing error possible.

What 7A asks

The district’s board voted 14 to 1 on August 28 to refer the measure, according to The Colorado Sun. Issue 7A would:

• Levy a district-wide sales and use tax of 0.333%, equal to about 33 cents on a $100 purchase.
• Raise an estimated $295 million a year.
• Authorize the district to take on up to $580 million in debt, with a maximum repayment cost of $785 million, according to the ballot language.

Voters in roughly 30 communities between Fort Collins and Trinidad will decide it, according to Colorado Public Radio. The district’s boundaries cover parts of a long list of counties, including Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Huerfano, Jefferson, Larimer, Las Animas, Pueblo and Weld, though in some of those counties only certain areas are inside the district.

What the money would buy

The project is known as the Colorado Connector, or CoCo. Its first phase does not depend on 7A. That phase is already funded and is planned to run three daily round trips between Denver and Fort Collins by 2029, according to Colorado Public Radio.

The tax would pay for the second phase: more frequent trains and an extension south from Denver through Colorado Springs to Pueblo, targeted for mid-2032. Reporting has described the full buildout as reaching about ten trips a day with new stations between Fort Collins and Pueblo, though the exact count of stations has been described differently by different outlets, and the district’s plans can change as design advances.

The case for and against

Supporters argue the project should be judged as a transportation investment, comparable to highways, rather than as a business expected to cover its costs from fares. They point to growing congestion on Interstate 25 and demand for alternatives to driving along the state’s most populated corridor. The campaign, Coloradans for COCO, had raised more than $700,000 by the latest reporting period, and six Colorado professional sports teams, including the Broncos, Nuggets and Avalanche, have endorsed the measure.

Opponents include the El Paso County commissioners, who passed a resolution against 7A citing long-term costs and their concern that county residents would pay the tax for about 10 years before trains reach them. The campaign disputes that timeline and says service would arrive in about five years. At an October panel covered by Colorado Politics, speakers weighed the measure’s costs against its benefits.

Sales taxes are also a business question. A 0.333% increase is small on any single purchase, but it adds to combined rates that already vary by city across the district, and businesses that collect sales tax would need to update their rates if it passes.

The ballot error

In early October, the district acknowledged that about 800,000 voters in parts of Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Weld counties had received the 7A question even though they live outside the district. Lawmakers had trimmed portions of those counties out of the district, leaving only some residents eligible, but the ballots did not reflect the change.

The Secretary of State’s office has said votes cast on 7A by voters outside the modified boundary must not be counted, and election officials plan a hand review of affected ballots. Sal Pace, the district’s general manager, accepted responsibility. “We’ll take the blame,” he said, according to KUNC.

For voters, the practical point is simple: if you live in one of those four counties and are unsure whether you are inside the district, your county clerk can tell you. If you are outside the district, the Secretary of State’s office has said any vote you cast on 7A will not be counted.

What happens next

Ballots are due by 7 p.m. on November 3. If 7A passes, the district can begin collecting the tax and issuing debt to plan and build the southern extension and added service. If it fails, the funded first phase between Denver and Fort Collins is still expected to proceed, and the district would need another source of money, or another vote, to extend trains to Pueblo.

Voters who want to read the full ballot language and the formal arguments for and against can find them through their county clerk and in local voter guides published by Colorado news organizations.