News

It's RTA Ballot Issue 7A + YVRTA Board Meets Monday, September 14

The RTA funding question has a name. The half-percent sales tax the YVRTA Board referred on August 26 is certified for the November 3 ballot as Yampa Valley RTA Ballot Issue 7A. There will be a variety of state questions on the same ballot; pay attention for the local issues. Ballots go out the first week of October.

Before that, the board meets Monday, September 14 at 4 p.m. in Hayden.

Monday RTA Board Meeting

The YVRTA Board meets Monday at 4 p.m. at Hayden Town Hall, 178 West Jefferson Avenue, with Zoom available. It is the board's first regular meeting on its new schedule, the second Monday of each month.

The agenda is a full one:

A federal grant for buses. On consent, Resolution 2026-027 approves an application to the FTA's 5339 program, which could fund as much as $4.5 million in buses against a 15% local match from the authority.
A marketing and branding firm. Resolution 2026-028 ratifies a contract with Q+M, chosen from 24 proposals, for a brand, an informational website, social media, and public relations. The contract spells out that none of that work may support or oppose the ballot measure.
The executive director search. The board will set special meetings to review candidates.
The ballot notice. The board takes up the for-and-against statements that go into the notice mailed to every household in early October, and Routt County's resolution in support.
Staff reports on negotiations with Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. and on moving the regional Craig to Steamboat bus route from Steamboat Springs Transit to the authority.

Join on Zoom, meeting ID 851 7404 1754, passcode 330977.

Since the August Vote

On August 26 the YVRTA Board voted to put the question to voters. Per the minutes, Steamboat Springs supports the measure and the RTA, Hayden is excited and supports it, the Craig and Yampa councils each voted to approve it, and Routt County is fully in support. Coverage in the Steamboat Pilot and the Craig Press.

It is RTA Ballot Issue 7A. The Routt and Moffat county clerks certified the question in early September. The ballot title asks for a half-percent sales tax, fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable purchases, with the same exemptions as the state sales tax: groceries, gas, prescriptions, and home heat are exempt. Four purposes are written into the question: public safety on Highway 40, transportation options for local workers, residents, seniors, and visitors, regional planning for future commuter rail, and affordable service to areas not currently served by transit.

Routt County passed a resolution in support. On September 8 the Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted Resolution 2026-064, which restates the eight service goals from the intergovernmental agreement voters approved last year and urges residents to vote yes.

The executive director search is moving. The posting drew 16 applicants by mid-August and the hiring committee began reviewing applications recently. Final interviews for the authority's branding and marketing firm were held at the end of August.

Add your support. Individuals and organizations can endorse RTA Ballot Issue 7A or Friends of YVRTA; local governments can pass a resolution in support, as Routt County has. Add your name, or contribute.

Website Refreshed for the Vote

We have rebuilt the static pages of friendsofyvrta.org for the funding question. Resources now carries the full ballot title, what is and isn't taxed, the key dates from ballots mailing to 7 p.m. on November 3, a timeline from the Formation Committee to the referral, and links to the official documents: the intergovernmental agreement and its service goals, the Fehr & Peers formation report, and Routt County's resolution. The FAQ is rewritten for RTA Ballot Issue 7A, from "didn't we already vote for this?" to "how do I vote?" Join Us has the fall calendar and the ways to help. Have a look, and tell us what we missed.

In the News: A Better Yellow Zone App

Steamboat Springs Transit rolled out an updated app on September 8 for Yellow Zone, its free door-to-door service downtown and in the nearby neighborhoods, running 7 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. daily. The service is unchanged; booking a ride is cleaner and faster, and current users get a prompt to update.