Residents in Manitou Springs will once again see a question on their fall ballots that could raise municipal taxes on tickets and door fees.

Tuesday night, the city council approved a ballot question for November’s election presenting voters with the option to increase in the city’s excise tax, otherwise known as an amusement tax.

The ballot question’s language would set the tax at 9.03%, the same as the city’s combined sales tax rate. The amusement tax’s current rate is 5%.

“I think that’s a fair amount,” said councilman John Shada of the increase.

The tax is separate from the city’s general sales taxes and mostly applies to businesses that sell tickets for entrance or experiences, such as the Pikes Peak Cog Railway and the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The ballot question is the second time the city council has asked voters whether to increase the tax, which has not been raised since the 1970s.

Last fall, the city forwarded a ballot question that would have allowed the city council discretion to raise the tax up to a total of 14%. That initiative failed among Manitou Springs voters by nearly 13 points, according to certified election results.

Last fall, businesses that pay amusement tax uniformly opposed the increase. Business owners said the increase from 5% to 14% put too high a burden on too few taxpayers, since the excise tax applies to only a handful of businesses in the city. Affected business owners could not be reached for comment Tuesday night on the new proposal.

The city initially sought an amusement tax increase after facing budget deficits due to a decline in recreational marijuana sales. The passage of a ballot question allowing sales in nearby Colorado Springs heavily impacted its smaller neighbor’s two dispensaries.

Last year and in 2026, the city dipped into its reserves to balance its budget despite some decreases in its expenses. The proposed tax increase would generate about $1.1 million in additional revenue for the city in 2027, according to the approved ballot language.

Mayor Natalie Johnson said that the additional revenue would still not make up the city’s full budget deficit if the ballot question is passed.

Earlier in the month, the city voted to accept the terms of a settlement with one of its largest tourism businesses — the company behind the Pikes Peak Cog Railway — over the amusement tax now under consideration for an increase.

In exchange for voiding a 50-year agreement to reimburse the cog railway for the annual amusement tax collected over $500,000, the city agreed to a one-time payment of $3.2 million. At the time of last year’s ballot question on raising the tax, the legal dispute was not yet resolved.

The railway is owned by Denver-based Anschutz Corp., whose Clarity Media Group owns The Gazette.