On November 3, Wheat Ridge residents will vote on a ballot measure proposing to raise the City sales tax rate to 4.5%, making the total rate 9.0%. This measure places an unfair burden on working families, places local businesses at a disadvantage, lacks budget transparency, and highlights a failure by City leaders to explore financially responsible alternatives.
Wheat Ridge voters should say NO to this PERMANENT tax hike.
Squeezing Household Budgets
At a time when inflation continues to stress household budgets, raising the total sales tax rate to 9.0% directly increases the day-to-day cost of living for everyone in Wheat Ridge. Among nearby communities, Wheat Ridge already stands out for its aggressive approach to taxing basic necessities and this proposed tax hike threatens to increase the burden.
A comparison of neighboring municipalities reveals a troubling trend for Wheat Ridge residents. Under the proposed rate, Wheat Ridge would claim the dubious distinction of having the 2nd highest overall sales tax rate among its comparable surrounding communities. Note that Wheat Ridge taxes food for home consumption. Most neighboring communities, including Denver, Lakewood, Edgewater, and Golden, completely exempt essential groceries from city sales tax to protect household budgets. Below is how Wheat Ridge’s proposed tax structure would compare to its neighbors:
Denver: 9.15% | Groceries Exempt
Wheat Ridge: 9.0% | Groceries TAXED (4.5% city sales tax)
Mountain View: ~8.5% | Groceries Exempt
Edgewater: 8.0% | Groceries Exempt
Littleton: ~8.0% | Groceries Exempt
Arvada: ~7.96%–8.2% | Groceries Taxed (3.46% city sales tax)
Golden: ~7.5% | Groceries Exempt
Lakewood: ~7.5% | Groceries Exempt
Sales taxes are inherently REGRESSIVE (meaning they hit lower-income households the hardest). Unlike income tax, which scales with earnings, sales tax comprises a significantly larger percentage of a low-income family’s budget needed to buy basic necessities. Raising the local sales tax penalizes residents for buying everyday items and places an unfair and disproportionate burden on those least able to afford it.
According to the USDA, a typical family of four spends about $1400 a month on groceries. With this tax increase, they will spend $840 per year on sales tax just to feed themselves. Coupled with spending on clothing, healthcare, and household goods, working families would see many hundreds of dollars drained from their paychecks for basic necessities.
Local Businesses Placed at a Competitive Disadvantage
The sales tax increase does not just harm consumers — it hurts our small business community that forms the backbone of Wheat Ridge’s economy. Local retailers fear that pushing the city’s combined sales tax to 9.0% will drive price-sensitive shoppers into neighboring communities offering lower tax rates. This reduces sales for local retailers and undermines our local economy. Local merchant revenues drop, city revenues stagnate, and local job growth stalls.
David Dentry, owner of Wheat Ridge Cyclery, noted that customers often browse in Wheat Ridge and then make their purchases elsewhere to avoid Wheat Ridge’s higher tax: “The increase would put [my] Wheat Ridge store at a disadvantage, since customers who browse there sometimes drive to lower-tax locations to actually buy.”
Blank-Check Spending: Unspecified Costs & Vague Bids
The City’s project wish-list includes acquiring land at the former Lutheran Hospital site and building a new municipal complex.
However, City leaders have failed to provide voters with key financial disclosures:
Undefined Acquisition Costs: When asked, City leaders said they don’t know how much it will cost to purchase land for their projects.
Uncapped Construction Bids: No firm budget or construction cap has been established for building the new municipal complex, an undertaking that is prone to delays and cost overruns, the cost of which was last projected in April at $82 million.
Uncalculated Fees: Ongoing conversion and operational expenses, including payments to the developer’s Metro District remain unquantified.
Asking taxpayers to sign off on open-ended capital spending without acquisition and construction estimates is fiscally irresponsible, lacks transparency, and is asking voters to sign a blank check.
The City Has Not Adequately Explored Financing Alternatives
Wheat Ridge already maintains a total annual budget of over $100 million. The City carries an S&P AA- rating. These are not markers of a municipality in fiscal crisis. They are markers of a city that can, and should, prioritize and sequence its capital needs without locking residents into a HIGHER PERMANENT TAX RATE.
Proponents argue that a sales tax increase is the only path forward. However, City leaders have failed to exhaust other fiscal strategies before burdening residents with a permanent tax hike:
- Reprioritizing the General Fund
- Rather than defaulting to a blanket sales tax increase, the City can streamline existing department budgets or redirect revenue from recent development growth.
- Phased or Target-Specific Bonds
- Instead of bundling a massive wish-list into one blanket tax hike, the City could prioritize improvements — from building new municipal complexes to pool replacements and other projects — through smaller, focused, and time-limited bonds.
- Public-Private Partnerships & Grants
- The City has not maximized options for joint development or leveraging state and federal grants to offset project costs.
On November 3, remember to:
Protect Family Budgets.
Demand Fiscal Responsibility.
VOTE NO on 2A — No Sales Tax Increase!
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