In search of funding for child care, two Colorado regions pursue special taxing districts
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Colorado already has lots of special districts that levy taxes for things like fire protection, water sanitation, and libraries. But what about for early childhood programs?
Leaders of the tony Aspen ski resort advocated for a 2019 Colorado law that allows communities to band together to create special districts for that purpose since it can be hard to find child care in that area of western Colorado. Plus, the options available can be expensive for the resort’s employees.
But solving those problems requires regional cooperation since lots of workers live “downvalley” in places like Carbondale and Glenwood Springs, but work “upvalley” in Aspen, one county over, said Maggie Tiscornia, who heads the Confluence Early Childhood Education Coalition.
That’s why her group has led the charge to create one of the state’s first special districts to levy property or sales taxes for early childhood efforts. Another group is trying for a special district on the Front Range. Both will have to win approval from commissioners in each county included in their district’s proposed boundaries before they can ask voters to sign off.
Special taxing districts for children’s services exist in Florida and Missouri. They’ve been possible for five years in Colorado, but none exist yet. While cities and counties already had the ability to levy taxes for preschool or child care, special districts allow communities to take a regional approach to early childhood needs, which, depending on where families live and work, can quickly spill over the boundaries of a single jurisdiction.
Advocates say the special districts can make child care more accessible, affordable, and higher quality by subsidizing teacher training, boosting wages, and helping families cover tuition costs. They say such districts aren’t a cure-all for the underfunded early childhood sector, but can be a partial fix in some communities.
“The biggest thing we see in Colorado writ large is it’s hard to pass things statewide,” said Jason Callegari, senior program officer at the Buell Foundation, an early childhood funder based in Denver. “So, if this is a tool that can get folks to buy into a localized solution, that can be really helpful.” (Chalkbeat receives funding from the Buell Foundation.)
While Colorado did pass a statewide nicotine tax in 2020 to help fund free preschool for 4-year-olds, several other statewide ballot initiatives for education have failed, including in 2019, 2018, 2013, and 2011.
