Cañon City committee weighs keeping sales tax for modest pool versus funding Western Gateway riverfront

Members of the Cañon City Ballot Study Committee debated whether to continue collecting a voter-approved sales tax to fund a modest municipal pool or redirect proceeds toward a phased Western Gateway riverfront project during a June 29 meeting.

The committee chair, a Cañon City council member who serves as committee chair, said their top choice was to “continue to collect tax and build a more modest pool,” arguing the facility would create economic value, attract residents and serve tourists. The chair listed sidewalks and other public-works projects and the Western Gateway project as second and third priorities.

Other committee members expressed concern that the amount currently available would not build a full-scale pool and noted legal questions about whether the ballot language and TABOR-related rules would permit reusing the tax question or redirecting proceeds. One member said the recent election results showed the sales tax and a related bond passed while a mill levy failed, and warned: “If we don't do something about the pool, this town is going to continue to be in battles over whether we should have or shouldn't have a pool and who should pay for it.”

Several members said they favored a ‘‘modest’’ pool — described repeatedly as smaller-scale and less expensive than past proposals — rather than a large, multiuse aquatic complex. Others urged investing in the Western Gateway, a riverfront master plan the group reviewed, pointing to the plan's phases (playgrounds, river access, boardwalk overlooks, event plazas) and to outside funding opportunities.

A committee member who compared the two options cited a June 2026 report by the Trust for Public Land that, according to the presentation, found about a 3-to-1 annual return on investment for community-scaled public spaces. The member argued the riverfront project could serve walkers, runners, anglers, kayakers, festival attendees and tourists year-round, have lower operating costs and open more grant opportunities than an outdoor pool, while acknowledging that a pool provides unique services — swim lessons, youth programming and summer cooling — that a riverfront cannot replace.

Committee members also noted that the Cañon City Recreation District holds property and liability for the former municipal pool and remains a potential actor in any pool effort; the district could still acquire funds to build and operate a pool, the committee heard. Members said they had collected individual ranked worksheets (submitted by some absent members) and would tally and present the committee's ranked recommendations to the City Council at its July 6 meeting.

No formal motion or vote was taken at the meeting. The committee chair declined to take questions at the session and closed after confirming the July 6 presentation.

The meeting also included smaller suggestions and trade-offs discussed by members — sidewalks and other public-works projects, a clock tower, a skate-park tied to the Western Gateway, a skyline incline feature and a John Vipen Reservoir option — which the committee ranked on individual worksheets and will include in the report to council.