Colorado Voters To Decide Whether Road Taxes Stay On The Road

By Mike Krause | Complete Colorado

DENVER — Colorado voters will have the chance this November to constitutionally guarantee that revenue intended for building and maintaining the state’s highways actually goes to fixing the roads, after proponents of Initiative 175 submitted enough valid signatures to earn a spot on the 2026 statewide ballot.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday announced that of the 189,355 total petition signatures submitted, 143,112  were deemed valid, easily clearing the 124,238 threshold required of all citizens’ initiatives. Because 175 amends the state Constitution, signatures from at least two percent of registered voters in each of Colorado’s 35 state senate districts were also required. They cleared that hurdle as well.

The measure would resurrect what was known as the “Noble Bill,” 1979 legislation championed by Sen. Dan Noble that directed sales taxes on automotive purchases — vehicles, fuel, tires, brakes, batteries, headlamps and the like — into the Highway Users Trust Fund (HUTF) for road maintenance. The formula was straightforward: 60 percent to the state, 22 percent to counties, and 18 percent to cities. Soon after Noble left the legislature, lawmakers repealed the bill, diverting millions of highway dollars into the general fund for other uses.

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