Colorado § 29-2-104 - Adoption procedures.

§ 29-2-104. Adoption procedures.

(1) A proposal for a countywide sales tax, use tax, or both shall be referred to the registered electors of the county either by resolution of the board of county commissioners or by petition initiated and signed by five percent of the registered electors of the county. The right of petition allowed pursuant to this subsection (1) shall extend only to the initial proposal of a tax and shall not extend to the extension of an expiring tax, use of tax revenues, or changes in distribution of tax revenues among local governments.

(2) Such proposal shall contain a description of the tax in accordance with the provisions of this article and shall make provision for any distribution of revenue collections between the county and the incorporated cities and towns within the county. Such proposal shall also state the amount of tax to be imposed. Unless otherwise agreed to by the governing bodies of the county and municipalities within the county, any use tax proceeds shall be distributed among such county and municipalities in the same proportion as the sales tax proceeds distributed to each jurisdiction.

(3) A proposal for a countywide sales tax, use tax, or both, by resolution of the board of county commissioners, shall be submitted at the next regular general election if there is one within the next succeeding one hundred twenty days after the adoption of such resolution. If no general election is scheduled within such time, the board of county commissioners, in its resolution, shall submit the same to the registered electors of the county at a special election called for the purpose, to be held not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days after the adoption of such resolution.

(4) Upon being presented with a petition requesting a proposal for a countywide sales tax, use tax, or both signed by five percent of the registered electors of the county, the board of county commissioners shall, upon certification of the signatures on the petition, submit such proposal to the registered electors of the county. The proposal shall be submitted at the next general election if there is one within one hundred twenty days of the filing of the petition. If no general election is scheduled within one hundred twenty days following the date of filing of the petition, the board of county commissioners shall submit such proposal at a special election called not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days from the date of filing of the petition.

(5) Upon the adoption of a resolution by the board of county commissioners as provided in subsection (3) of this section or upon the filing of a proper petition as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the county clerk and recorder shall publish the text of such proposal for a sales tax, use tax, or both four separate times, a week apart, in the official newspaper of the county and each city and incorporated town within the county. The cost of the election shall be paid from the general fund of the county. The conduct of the election shall conform, so far as practicable, to the general election laws of the state.

(6) If approved by a majority of the registered electors voting thereon, the countywide sales tax, use tax, or both shall become effective as provided in section 29-2-205.

(7) Repealed.

Source: L. 67: p. 660, § 4. C.R.S. 1963: § 138-10-4. L. 75: Entire section amended, p. 962, § 4, effective July 14. L. 79: (1)(d) amended, p. 1127, § 3, effective July 3. L. 81: (7) amended, p. 1402, § 1, effective June 9. L. 2002: (1) amended, p. 1944, § 1, effective August 7. L. 2024: (6) amended, (SB 24-025), ch. 144, p. 555, § 10, effective July 1, 2025; (7)(b) added by revision, (SB 24-025), ch. 144, pp. 555, 585, §§ 10, 55.

Editor's note: Subsection (7)(b) provided for the repeal of subsection (7), effective July 1, 2025. (See L. 2024, pp. 555, 585.)

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Ballot Measures: The Scope of Authority in Statutory Counties", see 52 Colo. Law 22 (May 2023).

Prior to the submission of a proposal initiated pursuant to subsection (1) to the electorate, a county has a discretionary duty to review the proposal for compliance with the procedural requirements of the county sales tax act and a court has jurisdiction to determine whether such an initiative complies with those procedural requirements. In contrast to a municipal or statewide initiative explicitly allowed by the Colorado Constitution, a statutorily authorized county initiative is limited and defined by the procedural and substantive provisions of the authorizing statute and the exercise of the statutory power of the initiative must comply with that statute. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. County Road Users Ass'n, 11 P.3d 432 (Colo. 2000).

Writ of mandamus ordering a county to submit a proposal initiated pursuant to subsection (1) to the electorate was inappropriate where the proposal failed to comply with the procedural requirements of the county sales tax act. Bd. of County Comm'rs v. County Road Users Ass'n, 11 P.3d 432 (Colo. 2000).

Distribution to all municipalities within a county is not required by subsection (2). Orchard City v. Delta County Comm'rs, 751 P.2d 1003 (Colo. 1988).

Any distribution of sales tax revenue by a county may not arbitrarily exclude an incorporated municipality within the county. Orchard City v. Delta County Comm'rs, 751 P.2d 1003 (Colo. 1988).