The Loveland City Council will reconsider whether to put a sales tax measure on the November ballot after a contentious meeting earlier this week when the attempt to do so failed on a 5-4 vote.

The city released an agenda Friday for a special meeting to be held before the study session already set for Tuesday.

Councilor Dana Foley, one of the five who voted down the measure, requested that the council reconsider it.

He said as he drove home Tuesday night and the next day, he spent time thinking about the issue, and he’s gotten calls from citizens about it.

Foley said Friday that he is not opposed to raising the sales tax to fund city operations at the current level, but he thinks a 1% sales tax increase was too much.

“I don’t support an increase at this point. When I looked at 1%, it just seemed like too much,” he said.

He said the issues must be brought back for consideration at the level discussed earlier this week, but he plans to ask for an amendment to make it a 0.75% sales tax increase.

“My stance on this matter remains consistent: I do not support an increase in taxes at this time,” he said in an email to the other council members, adding, “The language in the ballot measure that was presented appeared to be too significant to achieve revenue neutrality. I think a 0.75% increase would be a more reasonable approach to maintaining revenue neutrality.”

Some of the aldermen expressed concern about whether there would be a sunset — a time when the tax increase would end. “I’m not married to the sunset at all,” Foley said.

But he said he doesn’t approve of an arbitrary sunset date, because he feels it should be tied to a reason, such as the completion of a project the tax would fund, or to when the Centerra Urban Renewal Authority sunsets and the city will receive an influx of tax money going there now.

In his email to council members, Foley also suggested asking voters if they would like to repeal the amendment that eliminated the tax on food for home consumption. “Many citizens have expressed that, given the chance to reconsider, they would not have supported that measure because of its unintended effects. But addressing this issue may have to wait for a more opportune time,” he wrote.

The extra meeting starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers of the municipal building, 500 E. Third St.

Comments from members of the public will be accepted in person as well as over Zoom.

Those who wish to join via Zoom can use ID 975 3779 6504 with the password 829866, according to the meeting agenda.

The meeting will be broadcast on Comcast Channel 16/880, Pulse TV channel 16 and streamed via the city’s website at lawgov.org/tv.

Originally published: August 9, 2024 at 17.27