$6 million in public funds to power preballot outreach for proposed rail funding tax measure

The Front Range Passenger Rail District on Monday unveiled a draft delivery plan for the proposed express passenger train linking communities along the Interstate 25 corridor from Fort Collins to Pueblo.

The rail service using mostly existing freight rail lines would include the addition of two special event stations to serve the proposed Denver Broncos Stadium at Burnham Yards and the Denver Summit FC stadium at the South Broadway and I-25 station areas.

The Denver Gazette has learned state agencies and the Regional Transportation District have directed more than $6 million in public money to the district for public education and outreach ahead of a potential November sales tax referendum to fund the expansion of what’s to be called the Colorado Connector or CoCo.

The district’s board of directors is set to vote at the end of August to refer a 0.333% sales tax hike to the November ballot, which would raise about $295 million annually to cover construction and operating costs.

The outreach spending includes a $3 million grant from the Colorado Department of Transportation routed through an intergovernmental agreement effective March 26 and an additional $3 million approved by the RTD board on May 28.

In a Monday news briefing, Front Range Passenger Rail District General Manager Sal Pace said the outreach efforts include gathering public comments on the draft delivery plan through July 27 ahead of board consideration July 31 and a potential referral vote Aug. 28.

The CDOT grant supports polling, two waves of 40-to-50 town hall meetings, coalition building, branding for CoCo and operation of the digital platform coloradoconnector.com, according to FRPRD’s FY2026 budget and the grant agreement.

Line items in the district’s adopted budget include $794,000 for grassroots and coalition building and $565,000 for outreach, marketing and branding.

The district released a plan outlining significantly lower phased costs than some previous estimates.

The plan pegs capital costs for starter service (Denver to Fort Collins) at $332 million with no new tax required, using in part RTD taxes already collected and other funding sources, full service (to Pueblo) at $1.7 billion and expanded service at an additional $2.7 billion.

“Full Service depends on new dedicated funding,” the plan states, “which would come from a future ballot question potentially in November 2026.”

Some skeptics of the rail project have said it costs too much and doubt it will be embraced by a large number of users, evidenced by low RTD light rail ridership levels in the metro Denver area.

Critics question the use of public money to promote a tax increase before the ballot language is finalized. Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights prohibits the use of public funds to promote or advocate for a ballot initiative once it has been formally filed, officials noted.

Proponents argue the investment in outreach prepares voters with facts about a project that could reduce I-25 congestion and boost economic development.

The district’s narrowed “bubble” boundaries, set by 2026 legislation, focus voting on municipalities near planned stations, while excluding some corridor communities between Littleton and Colorado Springs, according to project documents.

Pace defended the approach as tied to requirements by the Federal Railroad Administration to qualify as passenger rail based on distance between stations and train speed.

“The station alignments were done based on modeling and ridership. We do need to meet the characteristics of intercity passenger rail,” said Pace. “If we were deemed not to be intercity passenger rail because we had too many stops, that could make us ineligible for future potential federal funding.”

The board is scheduled to consider referring the tax measure to voters at an Aug. 28 meeting.