If Denver Referred Query 2P look acquainted, that’s as a result of Denver voters twice earlier than have had their say on a gross sales tax that gives tuition assist for households searching for to enroll 4-year-olds in preschool.
The brand new measure on ballots for the Nov. 7 election is geared toward authorizing the now-17-year-old tax in perpetuity, with no have to ask voters to resume it.
A slim margin of Denverites in 2006 authorised the preliminary 0.12% gross sales tax that launched the Denver Preschool Program, setting a charge that quantities to 12 cents on a $100 buy. That tax got here with an expiration date 10 years later.
In 2014, two years forward of that, the Denver Metropolis Council referred a measure to the poll that proposed to extend the tax to 0.15% — 15 cents on a $100 buy — and lengthen the expiration by one other decade, to 2026. Voters authorised that measure with 55% assist.
Now, three years forward of time, the Metropolis Council is asking voters to vote on the tax a ultimate time — except there’s a necessity to boost the speed sooner or later. The council voted unanimously in Could to ask the town’s voters to proceed the tax at its 0.15% charge completely, with no set expiration.
Right here’s a fast have a look at the poll measure.
What would Referred Query 2P do?
The poll language states it plainly: If authorised, the present 0.15% gross sales and use tax that funds the Denver Preschool Program can be completely prolonged as a substitute of expiring on Dec. 31, 2026. It consists of the caveat that the tax could possibly be altered or repealed by the Metropolis Council or metropolis voters. However any enhance within the tax would require voter approval.
The place do the preschool tax proceeds go?
Since its creation, the Denver Preschool Program says it has supported almost 70,000 kids by serving to cowl the price of preschool. This system granted $18.3 million in tuition assist to households final 12 months, in keeping with the Yes on 2P campaign, bringing this system’s complete through the years to $150 million. This system is run by a nonprofit with metropolis oversight.
All Denver households are eligible, however the tuition assist supplied relies on revenue, with precedence for households with the best financial wants. This system says households can select between greater than 250 eligible preschools.
Doesn’t the state pay for preschool now?
Gov. Jared Polis signed a legislation in 2022 designed to offer funding for common preschool for Colorado youngsters, an concept that voters backed by rising tobacco and nicotine taxes in 2020. The state program launched this faculty 12 months and covers not less than 15 hours of free preschool per week, or extra for kids who meet sure {qualifications}.
On its website, the Denver Preschool Program says DDP assist can be utilized to pay for extra hours of preschool than the state program would possibly cowl. Because the state program begins, the town program additionally has been expanded to supply tuition funding for 3-year-olds whose households have the very best stage of monetary want.
What do supporters say?
Arguments in assist of Query 2P, as summarized by the city’s ballot information booklet, deal with this system’s influence, with 55% of households who obtain tuition credit going through “vital financial hardship.” It cites analysis indicating that preschool attendance generally is a key think about kids’s future success.
“Youngsters with entry to high-quality preschool are higher ready for kindergarten, learn earlier, graduate highschool at highschool at increased charges and go to varsity extra usually,” supporters wrote in arguments submitted for the booklet.
What do opponents say?
No committees have been shaped to oppose Query 2P, and no person submitted arguments towards it for this the town’s poll info booklet.
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