Close the Tax Loophole.
Protect Our Community.
This November, Manitou Springs voters will decide whether to close a long-standing gap in the city's tax code — one that has kept the Amusement Tax at 5%, well below the City’s Sales Tax rate of 9.03%. It's a fairness fix. And it couldn't come at a more important time.
Our Town is Facing a Real Budget Crisis.
Manitou Springs is staring down a serious budget gap — and it didn't happen by accident. When neighboring Colorado Springs allowed recreational cannabis sales , it pulled a significant share of marijuana tax revenue away from Manitou. Losing that money left a real hole.
The city hasn't waited for voters to close the gap. Nearly $1,300,000 in cuts have already been made:
• City positions left unfilled — including in Planning and Police
• Critical maintenance deferred on public facilities
• Programs scaled back or eliminated
• Operational changes made to reduce overhead
Those cuts were significant, but they still haven't closed the gap. Without new revenue, the programs that define Manitou Springs, the ones residents love and visitors come here for, are next on the chopping block.
There's Some Good News
The Cog Railway Settlement Changes Our Long-Term Picture.
The city recently settled its long-running lawsuit with the Pikes Peak Cog Railway — a resolution projected to save Manitou Springs tens of millions of dollars over the next 50 years. That's a genuine win, and it meaningfully strengthens the city's long-term financial position.
But it doesn't fix today's operating budget. The settlement addresses the future. The revenue gap is a real problem right now.
THE SOLUTION: ONE RULE. APPLIED FAIRLY. ACROSS THE BOARD.
Here's the inconsistency: right now, every taxable purchase in Manitou Springs is taxed at 9.03% — except amusement tickets, which are taxed at just 5%. There is no good policy reason for that difference. It's a legacy gap that has never been corrected.
Adjusting the amusement tax to 9.03% is not a new tax. It doesn't create a new category or target a new group of people. It simply applies the same rate that already applies to everything else. Same town. Same rules. Fair taxes.
Campaigns run on people power — and people power requires resources. Every dollar contributed to Fair Taxes for Manitou Springs helps us put yard signs in more windows, reach more neighbors, and make sure every voter in Manitou Springs has the information they need before November.
This is a neighbor-to-neighbor campaign. We're not funded by outside interests or political machines. We're funded by people who live here, work here, and love this town. If that's you, we'd be grateful for your support.
A YES VOTE this November can:
• Keep our public parks open and maintained
• Keep the community pool and fitness center running
• Maintain our historic mineral springs
• Protect downtown beautification and holiday lighting
• Support Visit Manitou Springs and the Creative District
• Fund public safety staffing and infrastructure
The new revenue - projected at $1,128,000 the first year - comes largely from the visitors who enjoy our parks, our trails, and our downtown. The people who benefit from Manitou services will help fund them.
Fair Taxes for Manitou Springs.
We love this town. We want to keep it the place we all know — weird, wonderful, vibrant, and alive! That takes revenue. And right now, a tax code loophole prevents one part of the community from paying its fair share. Let's fix that together.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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No, it's a fairness fix. Every other taxable purchase in Manitou Springs already pays 9.03%. Amusement tickets currently pay 5%. Aligning the two rates doesn't create a new tax or a new tax category. It simply applies the same rule that already applies to everything else in town.
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Primarily visitors and tourists. The Amusement Tax is paid by people who purchase amusement activities in Manitou Springs, and the majority of that activity comes from out-of-town visitors, not residents. This is not a tax on your income, your property, or your groceries.
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When neighboring Colorado Springs allowed recreational cannabis sales, it pulled a significant share of marijuana tax revenue away from Manitou. The city has already responded with nearly $1,300,000 in budget cuts — leaving positions unfilled, deferring maintenance, and scaling back programs. Those cuts haven't closed the gap, and further reductions would directly threaten core services as soon as next year.
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The settlement is genuinely good news and will save the city tens of millions of dollars over the next 50 years. But it improves the long-term financial picture, not today's operating budget revenue gap. The amusement tax loophole is an immediate problem that requires an immediate solution.
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Revenue from the amusement tax adjustment protects services currently at risk of further cuts: our public parks, the community pool and fitness center, the historic mineral springs, downtown beautification, holiday lighting, Visit Manitou Springs, the Creative District, and public safety staffing.
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The current 5% amusement tax generates approximately $1.4 million per year. Aligning it to 9.03% is projected to generate an additional $1,128,400 annually — for a combined total of roughly $2.5 million.
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It already has — $1,300,000 worth. Further cuts would move beyond administrative efficiencies and into the core programs and services that define Manitou Springs as a place to live and visit. Parks, the pool, the springs, public safety — these aren't extras. They're what make our hometown work.
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That argument is about government accounting, not about what taxpayers actually pay. When you buy a cup of coffee, a souvenir, or a meal in Manitou Springs, you pay 9.03% in tax. That's the rate on your receipt, regardless of how the revenue is divided between the city, the county, and other taxing entities. Amusement activities are taxed at 5% on that same receipt, a lower rate than every other taxable purchase in town.
The question voters are being asked is a simple one: should everyone doing business in Manitou Springs play by the same rules? The answer is yes. How the city, county, and special districts divide their respective shares of tax revenue is a budget question for government accountants and has nothing to do with whether the rate itself is fair. By the opposition's logic, we would need to set a different tax rate for every category of purchase based on internal allocation formulas. No one is proposing that because it makes no sense.
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The measure will be on the November 3, 2026 ballot. Ballots are mailed approximately three weeks prior to Election Day.
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Sign up to volunteer, donate to the campaign, or simply add your name as a public supporter. The most powerful thing in any local campaign is a neighbor talking to a neighbor — and every voice counts.