Early childhood care initiative headed to November ballot in Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle counties

A new regional effort to expand and improve early childhood care and education will go before voters this November, following the official filing of a ballot proposal by the Confluence Early Childhood Education Coalition.

If approved, the measure would create the Confluence Early Childhood Development Service District, a special taxing district encompassing Garfield and Pitkin counties and the southwest corner of Eagle County. It would be funded by a 0.25% sales tax on non-essential goods, equal to 25 cents on a $100 purchase. The tax is expected to generate about $10 million annually.

The “Strong Start, Bright Future” campaign is leading the initiative, which supporters say would address two major barriers facing local families: lack of available care and unaffordable costs.

“Only about 44% of children ages 0 to 5 from Parachute to Aspen currently have access to a licensed provider,” said Caitlin Causey, communications coordinator for the campaign. “And for those lucky enough to find a spot, the cost is often too high — pushing parents to leave jobs, reduce hours or even move away.”

The proposed district would not directly partner with providers but instead fund grants and tuition credits to support families and boost provider capacity. The majority of the revenue would go toward sliding-scale tuition assistance for families with young children, with the remainder distributed to providers for teacher wage increases, facility expansion, licensing support and quality improvements. Additional funds would be reserved for district operations and program evaluation.

Maggie Tiscornia, outreach coordinator for the campaign and former executive director of the CECE Coalition, said the program is designed to be flexible and accessible.

“We want to avoid hard income cutoffs that exclude middle-income families who also struggle with child care costs,” she said. “Most families would qualify for some level of support based on need, income and household size.”

Items exempt from the proposed tax include groceries, gas, medicine, diapers, feminine hygiene products and other state-exempt essentials. Non-essential items — such as furniture, clothing, and electronics — would be subject to the added quarter-cent tax.

The measure is backed by a broad coalition of regional stakeholders and received unanimous support from all three counties’ boards of commissioners earlier this year. More than 1,000 registered voters signed the petition to get the initiative on the ballot — five times the required amount.

If the measure passes, voters will also elect the district’s first board of directors, with representation from five geographic areas. That board will oversee the rollout and implementation of the program in 2026.

Tiscornia said success metrics would include improvements in child care affordability, increases in the number of available provider slots, and long-term tracking of educational outcomes for children who receive care funded by the program.

“This is about supporting our youngest kids during the most important developmental window of their lives,” she said. “At the same time, it strengthens our workforce, our economy and our communities as a whole.”To learn more about the campaign or get involved, visit http://www.StrongStartBrightFuture.com or follow @StrongStartBrightFuture on Facebook and Instagram. For volunteer opportunities, contact Tiscornia at Maggie@StrongStartBrightFuture.com.