FoYVRTA

RTA Ballot Measure: Steamboat Council Friday, RTA Board Votes August 26

Scott Franz, Steamboat Pilot

Two meetings, one this Friday and one next Wednesday, set the path toward a regional transit funding question on the November ballot.

Steamboat Springs City Council will hold a special meeting Friday, August 21 at 10 a.m., online only, with one topic on the agenda: the RTA ballot measure. The YVRTA Board then reconvenes Wednesday, August 26 at 4 p.m. to vote on whether to refer that question to voters.

Both meetings take public comment, and we strongly encourage your supportive comments and participation.

Friday's meeting is virtual, held on Zoom. Agenda, packet, and join details are on the Steamboat Springs meeting portal.

This Friday the 21st

Steamboat Springs City Council is not voting on a tax on Friday. The RTA Ballot Measure item is part of a special meeting for direction and information.

Steamboat's seat on the YVRTA board belongs to Councilor John Agosta, with Councilor Bryan Swintek as alternate. Board members are not required to get approval from their own councils before voting on authority business, but they are free to ask for input. This is the Friday meeting. Steamboat's two representatives are talking through the August 26 RTA Board vote with their colleagues, in public.

The staff memo is direct about where the city already stands on the broader project. It notes that the discussion "furthers Council's goal of supporting the advancement of the Regional Transportation Authority."

Monday RTA Board Recap

The vote on referring the measure was on Monday's RTA Board agenda, and the board opted to add a step before taking it. Swintek, sitting in for Agosta, asked to hold the vote so Steamboat could take the question up in a formal public setting first, and the board agreed to move it to August 26. The Steamboat Pilot has the full account, including the polling results the board reviewed the same evening.

Background

Voters created the YVRTA in November 2025, but that vote did not come with any tax funding. Under Colorado law a transportation authority has to go back to voters for any tax requests to further fund itself, which is why a second question is on the table now. Over the summer the board hired an outside firm to survey residents across all six jurisdictions of the Yampa Valley on whether to ask at all, at what rate, and which purposes matter most. Those results came back Monday. The question in front of the board on August 26 is narrower than it sounds: not whether the valley wants regional transit, but whether to place a funding measure on the November 3 ballot and let voters decide.

What the Polling Showed

The full polling report was presented at Monday's meeting, and it is on the agenda again Friday. A few things stood out.

Pollsters tested both a half-percent and a full percent. Just over half of those surveyed supported the half-percent, while the full percent drew less than half. The board is moving toward the smaller of the two, which is also a quarter of what Colorado law allows a transportation authority to ask voters for. On the half-percent, supporters outnumbered opponents by a wide margin.

Highway 40 was the strongest argument in the survey. Of everything tested, the case about crashes and safety on the road between Steamboat and Craig convinced the most people across the district, and it landed hardest in Craig. That will not surprise anyone who drives it.

The rest of the list held up well too. Regional planning for commuter rail, better service for locals, and safety improvements all registered as priorities, in Steamboat and in Craig alike. People were not picking one piece over the others so much as saying the whole direction is worth doing.

The Ballot

The draft has not changed since we wrote about it ahead of Monday's meeting. Resolution 2026-026 would refer a half-percent sales tax to voters on November 3, starting January 1, 2027. That is fifty cents on each one hundred dollars of taxable purchases.

The revenue figure in the draft is still a bracketed placeholder while staff, finance, and accounting work up an actual estimate. Ballot language has to be certified with the Routt and Moffat county clerks by September 4.

The tax would carry the state's sales tax exemptions, so groceries and food for home consumption stay exempt, along with gasoline and diesel, prescription drugs and medical equipment, and fuel for home heat and power.

Four purposes are named: Highway 40 safety, better transportation options for local workers, residents, seniors and visitors, regional planning for future commuter rail between Craig, Hayden, Steamboat Springs, Oak Creek and Yampa, and affordable service to places transit does not reach today.

Weigh In

This is a good week to be heard. Tell the Steamboat Springs City Council and the YVRTA Board why regional transit matters to you.

Three ways in:

Friday, 10 a.m., on Zoom. Comment on the RTA item is taken right after the staff presentation, and there is a general comment period after that.
Write to council any time at citycouncil@steamboatsprings.net.
Wednesday, August 26, 4 p.m., when the YVRTA Board discusses the measure.

Feel welcome to reply to this newsletter and we will make sure your thoughts reach the table.

In November 2025, this valley approved forming the YVRTA with 81% support across all six jurisdictions. That was a vote to build something. This is a step in deciding what it gets built with.

Save the dates: Steamboat Springs City Council, Friday, August 21 at 10 a.m. on Zoom. YVRTA Board, Wednesday, August 26 at 4 p.m.