Larimer County voters may see sales tax increase to support child care on November ballot

Advocates for more affordable child care in Larimer County hope to ask voters in November for a sales tax increase to help pay for more day care centers, better pay for staff and financial relief for families struggling to pay the high cost of child care.

The Early Childhood Council of Larimer County, which ran out of time in 2021 to get a measure on the ballot, is working with county staff to determine if a 0.25% increase in the county's sales and use tax "is a viable option" for the November ballot, said Christina Taylor, the council's chief executive officer.

With several other potential tax hikes on the ballot, Taylor said they don't want to step on the toes of people who might be relying on tax increases for other purposes. "We would love it if (commissioners) choose to support it," she said.

If the Early Childhood Council feels confident municipalities are comfortable with the ask, it'll put it on the ballot. Taylor said ideally, a decision would be made by August.

"We would argue child care is one of the more pressing needs in the community," Taylor said.

With more child care centers in the works, and an influx of COVID relief money to create spots, "the need has been somewhat alleviated," Taylor said. But there is still a gap between demand for and availability of licensed child care and preschool in Larimer County.

The Early Childhood Council estimates the county needs another 3,572 spaces for children from birth to 24 months and 4,069 spaces for those ages 2 to 5 to close the gap between the number of children with all parents working and the number of licensed slots, according to a January report from the council.

And there's still a problem with affordability and the inability to keep teachers in the classroom, Taylor said.

Early childhood teachers "are still not valued the way they should," Taylor said. "The pay is still too low." The average preschool teacher makes between $13 and $15 an hour, barely over minimum wage.

There are still details to work out about the potential ballot measure, but here's what we know about the possible tax hike and where the money would go.

What would the proposed sales tax increase look like?

• 0.25% on sales and use taxes, or 25 cents on every $100 purchase.

• The tax is estimated to raise $19 million to $21 million.

• The tax would sunset after 15 years.

Where would the money from the tax increase go?

• Up to $10 million would be distributed to families to offset the cost of child care tuition.

• Up to $7 million would be invested into the early childhood workforce through recruitment and retention strategies and salary supplements.

• Up to $2 million invested into capital projects to increase the number of programs in Larimer County through new builds and renovation of existing spaces.

What's the problem?

According to Early Childhood Council of Larimer County:

• The average cost of child care in Larimer County is $199 to $324 a week depending on the age of the child, or roughly $10,000 to $17,000 a year.

• The average Larimer County family with a median household income of $75,330 spends between 12% and 20% of their annual income on child care for one child.

• The average Larimer County early childhood educator makes an average of $13 to $15 an hour.

• During the pandemic, 42% of Larimer County families reduced their work due to lack of child care.

What the state, county and Fort Collins are doing

Access to affordable child care has been a state, county and city priority for years.

In 2018, the city of Fort Collins declared child care a priority, recognizing that there were significant challenges and barriers surrounding it, including access, affordability and retention of staff in the field.

Last year, the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners committed $2 million in American Rescue Plan dollars to help establish a child care center at a planned low-income housing development in south Fort Collins to help meet a critical need.

Colorado’s new Universal Preschool program begins in the fall, with the state paying for up to 15 hours a week of voluntary preschool for children in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten, along with qualifying 3-year-olds.

The program covers education in licensed community-based, school-based or home-based preschool settings that have registered with the state to participate in the program. As of January reporting from the Coloradoan, more than 29,000 slots had been made available from 850 providers, including most of the state’s public-school districts, according to state officials, with more providers expected to join as enrollment begins.

Funding for the program is coming from a tax on nicotine products approved by voters in 2020.

Want to know more?

Early Childhood Council of Larimer County has details of the proposed tax and the child care issues available at larimerthrivebyfive.org.

Online registration for the state-supported Universal Preschool program is available at https://upk.colorado.gov/.

Coloradoan reporter Kelly Lyell contributed to this report.

Pat Ferrier is a senior reporter covering business, health care and growth issues in Northern Colorado. Contact her at patferrier@coloradoan.com. Please support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Potential tax hike ask in Larimer County would support child care