Colorado town of Superior under home rule after special election

In a special election Tuesday, the Colorado town of Superior voted to adopt a charter and move the town under home rule. 

There was a low turnout for the town of more than 13,000 people. The votes came in at 1,670 for the charter and 721 against.

The measure was originally planned to be on the November ballot, but a clerical error pushed it to a special election in December. Now some residents still have questions about the vote and what it means.

Superior Mayor Mark Lacis provided further explanation on Wednesday.

"The Colorado constitution gives municipalities the ability to be self-governing, and they drive their power from the constitution," he said.

The vote gives the town a bit more of a say on how state regulations could apply to them, which could include things like housing requirements and auditing their own sales tax.

"We're expecting somewhere around $1 million of sales tax collections that should have been paid to the town that haven't been paid," Lacis said of the one-time expected back pay.

Superior now follows more than 100 other cities and towns in Colorado that are already under home rule with 93% of Coloradans living in those municipalities.

Lacis explained, "Boulder, Louisville, Lafayette, Erie, Arvada, all of them are home rule. Broomfield is home rule. So, Superior's getting with the program and joining them."

Dalton Valette has been working as Superior's Home Rule Commission Chair since the town voted to consider home rule in 2023 and has been aiming to inform residents who may still have questions.

"The frustration is absolutely there. That's why we decided to have a number of educational sessions for residents leading up to the special election," Valette said.

But still, with low turnout, Valette hopes more people can learn about their new governance.

"This is definitely not a topic that's one of the more sexy topics or glamorous ones that get a lot of headlines. But it's still a very important one," Valette added.

Lacis says by design, residents shouldn't expect to see much of a daily impact, but the title of town trustees will change to town council, and more state issues could come before them.