Manitou Springs amusement ticket and admissions excise tax increase

Manitou Springs is asking voters to do something simple and fair: apply the same tax rate to amusement tickets that already applies to every other taxable purchase in the city.

Right now, almost every taxable purchase in Manitou Springs istaxed at 9.03%. But amusement site entry fees are taxed at just 5%. That gap has no sound policy basis. It is an inconsistent loophole that has never been closed.

A YES vote aligns the amusement tax rate with the city's general sales tax rate of 9.03%. It is not a new tax. It simply asks customers of one sector to pay the same rate everyone else already pays.

Aligning the amusement tax generates revenue from visitors, not residents. The people who come to Manitou attractions and enjoy our parks, our trails, and our downtown will help fund the services that makethose high-quality services possible.

Manitou Springs is facing a budget crisis. When neighboring Colorado Springs joined the recreational cannabis market in mid-2025, a significant share of the marijuana tax that Manitou had come to rely on was diverted.

The city responded sensibly, making nearly $1,300,000 in cuts over the past two years. Those decisions have not been painless. Local government vacancies have not been filled. Job responsibilities have been merged. Maintenance on public facilities has been deferred.

But the budget gap is still not closed. Without some new revenue, the programs that define Manitou Springs as a community - upkeep on our parks, pool and fitness center, preservation of our historic mineral springs, downtown beautification, holiday lighting, Visit Manitou Springs, and the Creative District - face deep cuts or elimination.

The city recently settled its long-running lawsuit with the Pikes Peak Cog Railway, a resolution that will save Manitou Springs tens of millions of dollars over the next 50 years. But that settlement required money from the city's Reserve Fund, which is now significantly below the level at which it should be maintained. The settlement improves our long-term financial picture, but it does not balance today's operating budget.

The projected new revenue from adjusting the Amusement Tax is $1,128,400 per year - money that would stay in Manitou Springs and go directly to protecting the services our community depends on.

Opponents claim the current Amusement Tax is "fair" because all its revenue goes to the city while some of general sales tax revenues go to the state. That's an argument about government accounting, not fairness.

Fairness is measured at the point of purchase. Every other taxable purchase in Manitou Springs is charged a 9.03% rate. Amusement activities are the sole exception. Tax rates reflect what this community has determined is appropriate for commerce. That rate is 9.03%. Asking amusement activities to meet that standard is not a penalty. It is parity.

Manitou Springs deserves a tax code that applies the same rules the same way across the board. A YES vote delivers that – and protects the community we all love in the process.

Vote NO on 2A-the unfair amusement tax increase!

Nearly one year after voters rejected last year's Triple Tax, City Council once again is asking a small group of Manitou businesses to rescue it from financial problems of its own making.

The "tax fairness" argument is based on a fundamentally misleading comparison. 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 retail purchases. Raising the amusement tax to 9.03% would make the City's amusement tax equal to the entire combined sales tax imposed by the City, county, state and the PPRTA.

That is not fairness. It's an apples-to-oranges comparison that purposely misleads voters about the Manitou Springs' sales tax rate.

2A is a forever tax with no stated possibility to lower the tax rate in the future. Nor does it specify how the additional revenue will be spent. Just like last year, voters are again being asked to approve unlimited and unrestricted revenue and trust City Council to decide where the money goes. That trust has not been earned.

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.

Imposing a high tax rate on a single industry has failed before in Manitou Springs. When Colorado Springs legalized marijuana in 2024, Manitou's marijuana tax revenue declined drastically. At 9.03%, our tax on attractions would be the highest in the Pikes Peak region, causing visitors to spend their vacation dollars elsewhere. The City's approach to parking provides another warning. Rather than improve its own parking operations, the City tried and failed to consolidate downtown parking under a municipal monopoly. City-controlled parking isn't working for residents or visitors. When voters rejected last year's amusement-tax increase, they were warned that failure would require serious budget cuts. Those 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 six local amusement operators. Council must stop treating tax increases 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? Manitou Springs residents and businesses deserve transparent budgeting, disciplined spending and genuine cooperation with attractions providers – not higher taxes on visitors. Vote NO on Ballot Issue 2A – the unfair amusement -tax increase!