| The Buell Foundation and Gary Community Ventures are pleased to invite you to two upcoming webinars. Please share these webinars with community leaders, funders, and early childhood advocates. Interested attendees must sign up for each webinar to participate.
Early Childhood on the Ballot:
Successful Sales Tax Measures in Larimer County and from Aspen to Parachute
Wednesday, December 10 | 12:00–1:30 p.m.
In November 2025, voters approved two early childhood local tax measures that combined will raise at least $40M annually.
Larimer County passed ballot measure 1B, which will increase wages for early childhood educators, improve affordability for families, and invest in capacity and quality.
In the mountain region, voters passed issue 7A establishing Colorado’s first early childhood special taxing district from Aspen to Parachute. Funds will be utilized to expand child care providers capacity, increase wages for preschool and child care workers, and improve affordability throughout the region.
Presenters:
- Maggie Tiscornia, Confluence Early Childhood Education
- Valerie Carlin, Aspen Community Foundation
- Christina Taylor, Larimer County Early Childhood Council
- Liz Means, Larimer County Early Childhood Council
Register for webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/3_eRiuD9Q1ilzjWHp5yNyA
Early Childhood on the Ballot:
Successful Lodging Tax Measures in Hinsdale and Eagle Counties
Friday, December 19 | 12:00–1:30 p.m.
In November 2025, many communities sought to increase local lodging taxes and included child care as an allowable use. Join a conversation with community leaders who passed lodging tax measures in Hinsdale and Eagle counties.
Hinsdale County has only one licensed child care center and recognized the need to provide stability to the child care sector to remain a vibrant community for families. After conducting a community child care needs assessment and extensive stakeholdering, a 4% increase in lodging taxes was approved with 2% of funds for EMS, 1% for search and rescue and 1% for child care.
Eagle County, already a leader in supporting child care through lodging tax funds, went back to the ballot seeking to increase lodging tax rates from 2% to 4%. Voters approved the measure narrowly, with 10% of funds going to support advertising and marketing local tourism and 90% to child care, public safety enhancement for local law enforcement, fire protection services, and EMS.
Presenters:
- Lily Virden, Hinsdale School District
- Commissioner McQueeney, Eagle County
- Sam Markovitz, Eagle County Department of Human Services
Register for webinar:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8O9Bl6paQEGgBJIcHNOWcw
As a reminder, the ECE local financing toolkit and lodging tax resource contain guidance and case studies from successful ballot measures in Denver, Summit County, San Miguel County, Eagle County, Chaffee County, and Estes Park.
Information about open funding opportunities for communities seeking local funding support as well as recordings of previous webinars can be found on the Buell Foundation website here.
Reach out to Jason Callegari, Director of Initiatives, at jcallegari@buellfoundation.org with questions. |
