Local Tracker Sheds Light on the Bottom of the Ballot

The presidential election is commanding the most attention as Coloradans sit down to vote, but the items that will make the most immediate impact on many voters’ lives are way down at the bottom of the ballot. These are the local ballot questions.

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Studies have shown that democratic participation plays an important role in a community’s health.

What’s more, many of the policies that affect people’s health are made at the local level. Affordable housing — a key determinant of health — is still largely a local concern because cities and counties decide what type of housing gets built and where. Outdoor exercise improves health, and city parks provide nearby places for people to play. Infrastructure — like clean drinking water and safe, efficient transportation — plays a big role in helping or hindering health. These are local government domains, too, and often local voters have the final say.   

But it’s hard to get information on what Colorado voters are deciding at the local level. That’s why The Colorado Health Foundation created the Local Ballot Measure Tracker in 2020. 

The Foundation worked with CHI in 2023 to revamp the tracker. For 2024, we’ve added user-friendly navigation and the full text of every city and county measure on the fall ballot. 

This year’s tracker includes 193 measures, covering every municipal and county item on the November ballot, as well as city questions from spring elections and some measures that were proposed and withdrawn.

The Local Ballot Measure Tracker is the only public source that allows for side-by-side comparisons of what different local jurisdictions are voting on. Maybe you want to see what counties are trying to extend term limits. Or maybe your community group is thinking about an initiative on affordable housing, and you want to see what other cities have done. The tracker can help with all of that.

Here are a few highlights we have spotted in the 2024 tracker:

  • Marijuana. Ten years after legalization, local voters are still deciding whether to allow marijuana sales in their cities. This year voters in Colorado Springs, Loveland, Alamosa, Mead, and Fort Lupton all will decide if they want recreational marijuana stores. Several other towns want to adjust their marijuana taxes.
  • Governance. More than half the local measures deal with the nuts and bolts of running a city, such as amending a town charter to change the authority of the city manager or allowing the town to sell bonds. Under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, local governments need voter approval to take out debt or raise taxes.
  • Affordable housing. Only a few local governments are seeking funding for affordable housing, but the ones that are have put forward big plans. Adams County and Denver are asking for sales tax increases. Pitkin County wants a property tax increase. And Avon is looking to tax construction materials to raise $4 million for community housing.

The Local Ballot Measure Tracker also includes local election data going back to 2020. This history allows us to spot some trends. For instance, local voters almost always vote for measures related to parks and the environment, whether they are about funding for recreation centers or preserving open space. And local questions about housing and land use peaked in 2022, with 36 measures. Many of them were from mountain communities asking for so-called Airbnb taxes on short-term rentals.

Local government elections have direct effects on their residents, but they often get ignored in the heat of a presidential campaign. The Local Ballot Measure Tracker brings a bit more attention to these important questions. Please help us improve it by telling us how you use it and what we could do to make it better. Email Emily Rader at The Colorado Health Foundation.


Note: The Local Ballot Measure Tracker is for informational purposes only. Neither The Colorado Health Foundation nor CHI endorse or oppose any legislation, including measures on the tracker.