This November, residents of the Arvada Fire Protection District (AFPD) will vote on Ballot Question 6C, which would raise sales tax by 1% in order to help fund the fire department.
If enacted, the ballot question would raise the AFPD’s annual budget by a projected $23 million. Arvada Fire’s operating budget for 2025 was $70.6 million. The special district includes Arvada, parts of northern Wheat Ridge, Fairmount, and unincorporated Jefferson County.
While the fire department says it needs the funding increase to continue providing the level of service its customers have become accustomed to, detractors say that the sales tax increase would unfairly burden low-income residents and could harm local businesses.
The ballot question exempts certain necessities, such as groceries, prescription medications, diapers, and school activities.
Ryan Weir, president of Arvada Professional Fire Fighters Association (Local 4056), said AFPD hasn’t asked for a tax increase since 2010 (a property tax increase that raised the mill from 9.48 to 14.71), and is struggling to meet the needs of residents amid rising costs and inflation.
“The increase in property taxes has helped extend that budget, but just like what everybody else is dealing with — cost of inflation, cost of things going up such as fire trucks, equipment, things like that — is what has spurred this on a lot,” Weir said. “And then on top of it, just you know, we were responding to more calls.
“More calls means more resources, means more things getting used,” Weir continued. “So that's what has caused this (strain) on our budget.”
Weir added that certain expenses for the fire department are about to come up. The department’s air packs (breathing apparatus) are set to expire and will need to be replaced; a ladder truck that cost $950,000 in 2009 now costs $2.6 million and takes four years to build.
These expenses — and the time they take to acquire — have caused the department to look ahead.
However, some Arvada residents feel that AFPD’s ask is imprudent.
Former Arvada City Councilmember John Marriott, who owns a business (Larson’s Ski and Sport) within AFPD’s boundaries, has organized the group Arvada For Common Sense, which is urging voters to vote no on the ballot question.
Marriott said his group has nothing against the fire department, but is concerned about the economic impact 6C could have if passed.
“One thing you won't hear out of us is anything negative towards the fire department,” Marriott said. “I think we have a first-rate fire department…Our concerns here are economic concerns. One of the biggest (concerns) is that changing the sales tax by one full percent pulls approximately 23 million dollars out of our local economy.
“And you know, for every business out there, our customers will have less money to spend,” Marriott continued. “It doesn't affect just us, but it affects the people we buy our printing from, or the people that come and do our janitorial, or the people that replace the roofs on our buildings…it has a very large ripple effect.”
Weir said that the decision to pursue a sales tax increase came from the department’s board of directors, who conducted a survey which found that 70% of respondents were in favor of the move. He added that as a special district, AFPD cannot receive funding from the City of Arvada.
“The sales tax helps spread it out for those that live, work, and play within our fire district,” Weir said. “And that's the other piece to it; we aren't a city fire department, so we get no funding, nothing from the City of Arvada. We are our own entity, and the money that we collect, we don't share — but we still have to have human resources, building maintenance, mechanics, firefighters.”
Marriott argued that a sales tax increase would disproportionately hurt low-income residents of the district.
“One of our concerns is that sales tax is the most regressive tax there is, and it hurts the poor people in our community far more than the wealthy people,” Marriott said. “And so that's a concern that you'd be delivering this giant amount of money to the fire department, largely on the backs of those who are not as well off as others.”
Weir said he is aware that the tax increase might put people in a difficult position, but said that the department was left with very few options. Proposition HH, enacted in 2023, limited property tax increases for special districts like the AFPD.
A year after Proposition HH was passed, the Colorado state legislature passed SB24-194, which allows special districts to use sales tax revenue to overcome budgetary shortfalls.
“It's tough on anybody when you have to raise taxes, and with everything going up and the price of everything going up, we know it's going to be difficult,” Weir said. “But I mean, the fire department isn't immune to inflation and the cost of everything going up, just like every other business. And so that's why we're here.”
Marriott also expressed concerns that sales tax could be an unpredictable revenue stream for the fire department, bringing up the COVID-19 pandemic as a time when sales tax revenue unexpectedly plunged for a prolonged period.
“I also have concerns that sales tax is really a bad way to fund emergency services because sales tax can be a very variable source of revenue,” Marriott said. “It goes up and it can go down depending on economic conditions. But the need to provide an EMS service doesn't ever go down. It's not variable.
“It can change a bit from year to year, but they really need a steady, solid funding source, and sales tax is just not it,” Marriott continued.
However, people associated with the fire department said that sales tax revenue is the best option at the moment.
While Marriott pointed to a 17% revenue increase in the department’s budget from 2024 to 2025 as a reason the department should not need sales tax revenue, Arvada Fire Public Information Officer Brady Johnson said the revenue increase has not kept up with rising costs. Because of that, the district has been forced to rely on its reserves to stay afloat.
“The natural growth Arvada has experienced over the last four years has resulted in increased property tax revenue; however, the operational demands associated with maintaining and expanding emergency services for a larger population have not kept pace with that revenue growth,” Johnson said.
“The district has supplemented ongoing property tax revenue with the use of reserves to fund capital needs,” Johnson continued. “While this approach has allowed the district to address significant capital and operational demands without immediately increasing the burden on taxpayers, it is not a sustainable long-term strategy.”
Johnson added that Arvada Fire’s merger with Fairmount Fire in 2025 was largely responsible for the recent property tax revenue increase that Marriott mentioned, but said the increase in service calls largely cancelled out that gain.
“Arvada Fire did experience a 14% increase in property tax revenue from 2024 to 2025,” Johnson said. “However, this increase was largely attributable to the consolidation with Fairmount Fire Protection District and the resulting expansion of the district’s tax base, rather than organic growth in Arvada’s existing property tax revenue.
“At the same time, the district assumed responsibility for providing emergency services to a larger geographic area and population, creating additional operational demands and costs,” Johnson continued.
Marriott also raised concerns about where a sales tax increase would leave Arvada in the context of the broader metro area.
According to an impact analysis completed by the City of Arvada, if 6C is passed, the Adams County portion of Arvada would have the highest sales tax rate of any municipality in the Denver metro area, at 9.21%. The Jefferson County portion of Arvada would be fifth-highest, at 8.96%. Arvada currently has one of the lowest sales tax rates in the metro area.
“I think when you move us to the top or near the top of the sales tax heap, all across the metro area, it just makes everything less competitive,” Marriott said. “I think as a community, there's a strength in having the best economic opportunities and climate in the metro area.
“It helps our businesses do better,” Marriott continued. “It helps our workers do better. It helps those who are in the nonprofit world do better because as the community does better economically, nonprofits are more easily able to raise money. So economic strength is way underrated and it's very fragile. And I don't think we should allow it to be taken away from us.”
Voters in the Arvada Fire Protection District will decide on Ballot Question 6C on Nov. 3.
For more information about the Arvada Professional Fire Fighters Association and their affirmative position on 6C, folks can visit asaferarvada.com. For more information about Arvada For Common Sense, folks can visit arvadaforcommonsense.com. To learn more about 6C from the fire department, folks can visit talkarvadafireco.com.