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RTA Ballot Issue 7A

The half-percent sales tax that funds the Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority is on the November 3, 2026 ballot as RTA Ballot Issue 7A. It shares the ballot with a long list of state questions; this is the one that funds the RTA. Voters in Routt County and the City of Craig decide it together, as one district.

Read the full ballot title

Ballot title, as referred by the YVRTA Board on August 26, 2026 and certified with the Routt and Moffat county clerks. The printed ballot adds the issue number.

Shall Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) taxes be increased by $7,875,197.00 annually, beginning in the first full fiscal year, and by whatever additional amounts are raised annually thereafter, by imposing, beginning January 1, 2027, a sales tax at a rate of one-half of one percent, equivalent to fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable purchases, upon every transaction or other incident with respect to which a sales tax is levied by the State, subject to the same exemptions that apply to the State sales tax, for the following purposes:

  • Enhancing public safety on Highway 40, decreasing the risk of accidents, and providing safer alternatives for residents and workers traveling between communities
  • Improving transportation options for local workers, residents, seniors, and visitors across the Yampa Valley
  • Participating in regional planning for future commuter rail service between Craig, Hayden, Steamboat Springs, Oak Creek, and Yampa
  • Providing affordable regional transportation options to areas that are not currently served by transit

And shall the Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) be authorized to collect, retain, and spend all revenues from such tax as a voter-approved revenue change above the annual limits of Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution?

_X_ YES!

What is not taxed

RTA Ballot Issue 7A carries the same exemptions as the Colorado state sales tax, written into the resolution that referred it. Groceries, gas, prescriptions, and home heat are not taxed. In full, the exempt categories are:

  • Food for home consumption: ordinary grocery purchases
  • Gasoline and special fuels: diesel, natural gas, propane, and kerosene
  • Prescription drugs, medical equipment, and medical devices
  • Fuel for residential heat, light, and power
  • Wholesale sales, and materials that become part of a manufactured product
  • Machinery and machine tools used in manufacturing
  • Feed for livestock, seeds, and orchard trees; livestock and live fish for stocking
  • Construction and building materials used by contractors on public works, for tax-exempt organizations, and for public schools
  • Sales to the United States government and to the State of Colorado, its institutions, and political subdivisions

The tax applies to the same purchases the state already taxes. Because it is a sales tax, visitors help pay for a significant portion.

Source: Resolution 2026-026, Section 4, adopted by the YVRTA Board August 26, 2026, which incorporates the state exemptions by reference (C.R.S. Title 39, Article 26).

Key dates

  • Week of October 5: ballots mail. Routt County begins mailing October 5; Moffat County mails by October 9. The ballot issue notice, with the arguments for and against, arrives a few days earlier.
  • October 12: drop boxes open. Routt County: 522 Lincoln Avenue (alley side of the Historic Courthouse) and 2025 Shield Drive in Steamboat Springs, plus Hayden, Oak Creek, and Yampa town halls. Moffat County: the 24-hour box at the main entrance of the courthouse, 1198 W. Victory Way, Craig.
  • October 19: in-person voting opens. Routt County: 135 6th Street, Steamboat Springs, weekdays 8 to 4:30, Saturday October 31 from 10 to 2. Moffat County: the courthouse, 1198 W. Victory Way, Craig, October 19 through November 2.
  • October 26: last day to register and still receive a ballot by mail. After that, register and vote in person.
  • November 3, Election Day: every ballot must be received by 7 p.m. Postmarks do not count. In the last week, use a drop box. Election Day voting: Routt County at 135 6th Street, Hayden Town Hall, and Oak Creek Town Hall; Moffat County at the courthouse 1198 W. Victory Way, Craig.

Check your registration, find your drop box, and see your sample ballot at the Colorado Secretary of State's voter lookup. County election pages: Routt County · Moffat County.

How we got here

  • December 2024. Six governments, Routt County, Steamboat Springs, Craig, Hayden, Oak Creek, and Yampa, form the RTA Formation Committee. City of Steamboat Springs RTA page, with the committee's agendas, notes, and meeting videos.
  • 2025. The committee's service plan and cost study by Fehr & Peers, public hearings in every community, and a community update on the proposed agreement. Fehr & Peers formation report · Community Update and IGA presentation, March 25, 2025
  • September 2025. The six governments execute the intergovernmental agreement that creates the Authority, sets one seat per community, and writes down eight service goals. Executed IGA · Summary of terms
  • November 4, 2025. Voters in all six communities approve forming the RTA, 81% overall.
  • December 29, 2025. The YVRTA Board holds its first meeting. Agenda
  • 2026. The Authority adopts a budget, hires accountants, launches an executive director search, receives seed funding from Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp. and a state grant, and commissions a professional poll of district voters.
  • August 26, 2026. The Board refers the half-percent sales tax to the November ballot.
  • September 8, 2026. Routt County commissioners adopt a resolution in support of the ballot question. Resolution 2026-064
  • November 3, 2026. RTA Ballot Issue 7A.

The service goals

The eight service goals are Appendix C of the intergovernmental agreement voters approved in 2025, and the Authority's board and the county's resolution both restate them: more buses on Highway 40 between Craig and Steamboat, a circulator route within Craig, new routes to areas with no service today (South Routt, Oak Creek, Yampa, and the neighborhoods along Highway 40), ground transportation to the Yampa Valley Regional Airport, better bus stops, park-and-ride lots, pedestrian safety work, and a seat at the table in regional rail planning. Read them in full in Appendix C of the IGA.

Official documents

YVRTA Board meetings are the second Monday of each month at 4 p.m., Hayden Town Hall, 178 West Jefferson Avenue, with Zoom available. We preview each meeting in the newsletter.

2025: the formation campaign

The poster below, by Steamboat artist Jill Bergman, hung in nearly a hundred businesses across the valley during the 2025 formation campaign. The vote was an overwhelming "YES" - thank you for joining us on that work!

Paid for by Friends of Yampa Valley Regional Transportation Authority & Registered Agent Luke Philips