Denver voters embrace library upgrades tax
COURTESY OF DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Denver voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a new property-owner tax that will inject $32 million into the city’s library system, according to early unofficial results Wednesday.
Question 21 was passing 65% to 35% early Wednesday, with 122,281 votes counted, according to Denvervotes.org.
The Denver City Council voted 11-1 in August to put the property tax hike to support roughly $32 million in funding for the Denver Public Library to voters Tuesday.
The increase — which shakes out to about $4.19 more per month for the average Denver homeowner — would support salaries, tech and infrastructure improvements, longer hours and programming for the city’s libraries. It would also provide a dedicated funding stream and some insulation from any budgetary restraints the city’s general fund may face, according to library officials’ presentation to council.
Other questions referred to Denver voters Tuesday include: 2J, 2K and 2L.
Question 2J, which appears to have passed, asked the public if Denver could spend revenue from 2021’s climate action tax, and continue to charge the 0.25% tax. The vote totals Wednesday were: 89,739 for and 39,674 opposed, with 129,413 total votes.
Question 2K asked Denver voters for the same permission with the 0.25% homelessness resolution sales and use tax. They appeared to agree Tuesday, as 90,751 voted for the measure while 38,642 opposed out of 129,393 total votes.
Question 2L, also passing by a large margin, asked Denverites permission to modernize procedures for ballot access city wide. The changes require an update to the city’s charter. Other changes include requiring initiatives to contain only one subject, updating deadlines for candidate nominations and giving the public a chance to comment on initiative naming. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was passing with 99,604 for votes and 25,234 opposed out of 124,838 total votes.




