Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that the potential ballot question would likely be similar to a ‘sin tax’ on tobacco and marijuana sales in Colorado Springs.

Next November, Colorado Springs voters might be asked to approve a local ballot measure that would help address some of the city’s shortages with early child care.

The potential for a tax question was discussed by the Colorado Springs City Council during a work session Monday morning. SherryLynn Boyles, CEO of the Joint Initiatives for Youth and Families, presented the work the agency has been doing to address the growing child care gap in the city.

There is space for around 18,300 children under the age of 5 at licensed facilities in Colorado Springs. Boyles estimated the city needs to add at least 16,000 more spaces to meet the demand. A map of child care shortages around Colorado Springs found that two of the highest needs were around Fort Carson and Peterson Space Force Base.

“I haven’t talked to any family with children under 5 who don’t have a horror story about waitlists and about drives. They tend to eventually figure it out, but it’s so stressful. We were just on a panel the other day with a young lady talking about her $40,000 child care cost,” Boyles said.

The idea of a ballot question to help address the shortage had first been suggested during the Family Friendly Summit in the spring of 2024, seeing dozens of other cities across the United States take on similar taxes to address child care shortages.

The discussion was also on the heels of Colorado voters overwhelmingly approving Proposition II in 2023, which used $23 million in tobacco sales taxes to help fund a universal preschool program. Just over 60% of voters in El Paso County approved the ballot measure during that election.

The potential ballot question will be workshopped more with the community over the next few months. At the moment, Boyles said it would likely be a similar ‘sin tax’ on tobacco and marijuana sales in Colorado Springs. The measure would be a temporary tax increase, set to expire after four years unless it was re-approved by voters.

The Joint Initiative for Youth & Families had campaigned against marijuana legalization when it passed at the state level in 2012. Boyles argued that taxing it now was still consistent with that concern, since higher costs for marijuana can drive down its usage.

“It’s not ideal when you want to have funding for child care purposes, but it’s four years. It gives the community a chance to look at this idea of local funding and then have a conversation about it again,” Boyles said.

The Family Friendly Initiative has already been running opinion polls and gauging public support for a potential ballot measure. Poll data included in the presentation showed that around 73% of local residents thought there was a problem with affordable child care. Sixty-two percent of respondents said they would support a marijuana tax if it improved the cost and quality of early child care.

Boyles told the City Council that one of the priorities for the potential tax revenue would be providing incentives for new developments to include child care options in their design. It could also be directed to help buildings cover the cost of construction when they try to add child care.

Other potential uses shown in Monday’s presentation are a signing bonus for early childhood educators who begin working in Colorado Springs and resources for stay-at-home parents to connect with each other.

Several councilmembers said they have agreed with the need to address some of the early childhood issues. Councilmember Nancy Henjum said that the Family Friendly Initiative was also working on city zoning changes to remove some restrictions of new facilities.

“When it comes to kids, we always require perfect and that makes it exceptionally tough, particularly in a political environment with all of these different viewpoints of how we raise our kids,” Councilmember David Leinweber said.

The question would either need to be placed on the ballot by the City Council or gather signatures to make the ballot. At least one more tax increase question appears likely to make the November 2026 ballot, which is an increase to the public safety and sales tax to help fund police and fire operations that has been repeatedly discussed by the Colorado Springs City Council.