County clerks across Colorado will begin mailing ballots to voters today for a November election that promises to be far less dramatic and fraught than the one a year ago.
The Nov. 4 off-year election will feature two state ballot issues and a wide array of local measures and candidates running for office, but no federal or statewide races.
At the state level, voters will consider Propositions LL and MM, both aimed at shoring up funding for the Healthy School Meals for All Program, which was created by a measure voters passed in 2022 to provide free school meals to any student regardless of family income.
If Proposition LL is approved, the state would be allowed to keep and spend $12.4 million in tax revenue that has already been collected for the program above initial projections. (The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights requires the state to return the excess money unless voters grant that approval.)
Proposition MM would raise an additional $95 million per year by increasing income taxes on households earning $300,000 or more annually. That increase would take the form of lower limits on deductions that higher earners can claim on their state income taxes.
Denver voters may face the longest ballot on Nov. 4, with the five-measure “Vibrant Bond” package asking to authorize the city to take out $950 million in general obligation bonds, which officials would then pay back through property taxes. The money would finance about 60 capital projects spread across five categories, including a park at the former Park Hill Golf Course, improvements to Red Rocks Amphitheatre and various road repairs.
Among a few other ballot questions, Denver voters will also decide Referendum 310, a measure that asks whether they want to retain the ban on sales of flavored tobacco products that the City Council passed late last year. If 310 fails, the measure will be repealed.
Colorado’s third-largest city, Aurora, will have races for five seats on its 11-member City Council. Those races raise the possibility of a substantive change in direction and philosophy on the beleaguered body, which for more than a year has faced numerous protests and disruptions during meetings.
Elsewhere on the ballot, many voters will see school board races and local ballot measures.
Voters will have until 7 p.m. on Election Day to return their ballots, either through the mail, at a drop box or by voting in person at any number of county voting centers.
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