This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Whenever a sales tax increase appears on the ballot, you'll hear the euphemism from supporters, "It's only two cents on a ten dollar purchase!" (or some such isolated amount).
Problem is, it's the total sales tax that consumers pay at checkout--city, county, state, RTD, etc. You pay this total on every retail purchase, restaurant meal and most utilities.
If Longmont Issue 3B were to pass, the total sales tax in town would increase from the present 8.515% to 8.695%, continuing an all-time high. By contrast, the total sales tax in nearby Firestone is 6.5% and Loveland is 6.7%.
Another problem with the Issue 3B ballot proposal is that it is a city sales tax increase applying to groceries, the most regressive of all sales taxes. Low income people in Longmont should not be paying sales tax on groceries at all, let alone a portion for a new pool & ice rink.
Dave Larison
Longmont, CO
