Parker citizen group organizes against grocery tax: "The families really need this more than the town needs this"

If you live in Parker, you may not know that you're paying a 3% tax on groceries, including food, diapers, and menstrual products.

Neighboring town Castle Rock has a 4% tax on these items, while most other nearby municipalities, including Denver, Aurora, Centennial, Lone Tree, Castle Pines and Colorado Springs don't tax these items. 

Now, a group of Parker citizens want their town to join that list.

"The families really need this more than the town needs this," says David Williams, a Parker resident who does his grocery shopping out of town, in an effort to avoid paying the 3% sales tax on food.

"Since food has gone up 22% in the last two and a half to three years. That not charging 3% sales tax would help families," said Williams.

That's why Williams launched Parker Citizens for Fair Taxes, a group working to repeal the town's tax on food for home consumption, diapers, and menstrual supplies.

"We need 6,800 signatures for this to go on to the election ballot, but our goal is 7,500 so if some signatures don't count, we have a buffer," Williams said.

So far, they've collected nearly 800 signatures.

"At least 90% of the time, they ask why it took so long," Williams said.

Town Councilmember Brandi Wilks says the grocery tax brought the town $13.2 million of revenue last year. It accounts for 14% of funding for the general fund and 15% for the parks department.

"It goes to our public safety, our public works, our parks recs and open space, our cultural recreation and arts, our staff," Wilks said.

If the tax is repealed, she says the town will have to cut services.

"When we talk about cutting 14% out of our general fund, it's a little scary, it's going to have permanent and detrimental effects on our town if this goes through," Wilks said.

She says events like the tree lighting and the Fourth of July show may be the first to go.

"All we're saying is keep the critical town services look at the noncritical or see if there's a way to be more efficient in your operations," Williams said.

While Parker's Town Council unanimously passed a resolution addressing the grocery tax and it's importance for funding town operations, Mayor Jeff Toborg has announced his support for the initiative.

If Williams gets enough signatures by July first, the people of Parker will decide the fate of the grocery tax in November's election. If he gets the signatures by mid-August, there will be a special election, that Wilks says will cost taxpayers $69,000.

"We are pretty comfortable that once it's on the ballot it will pass," Williams remarks.

If the grocery tax is repealed, the town council may choose to supplement that lost income by increasing their revenue from property taxes. Wilks says they may seek to increase the towns mill levy from 2.602 to 12.343 mills. But voters would also need to approve that.