2025 Election Results and Looking Toward the 2026 Ballot

The 2 state ballot measures in 2025 (an odd-numbered year) had to be fiscal in nature because of TABOR, but the 4 local measures were also fiscal. All the ballot measures easily passed. Boulder city and county voters generously taxed themselves for open space and mental/behavioral health (county) and for catch-all “Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety” (city).

Big Tent Boulder County has announced an effort to expand the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners from 3 to 5 members. Such ballot measures require offering at least 2 of the 4 available statutory options. One of the petition effort offerings is dividing the county into 5 districts with each district electing one commissioner. The other offering is dividing the county into 3 districts. In one even-numbered year everyone would vote on the at-large commissioner and one district would also get to elect its commissioner. Two years later, everyone would vote on the other at-large commissioner and the voters in the other two districts would get to elect their district’s commissioner. Currently, Boulder County’s three commissioners have to reside in a specific geographical district, but everyone gets to vote in all three commissioner contests.

Meanwhile, at the state level a coalition of groups is hard at work on a combination constitutional/statutory change to create a graduated income tax to replace our current flat tax. TABOR and H.R.1 (the “One Big Beautiful Bill”) together are making funding state services very difficult. The proposed graduated income tax is expected to result in increased state funding. The coalition plans to get this measure on the November 2026 ballot.