City of Centennial will ask residents to approve 1% sales tax increase
Freda Miklin reports Centennial’s Aug. 11 vote to place a 1% sales-and-use tax increase on the November ballot.
Freda Miklin ·
At its August 11 meeting, the Centennial City Council voted to ask its residents to approve a 1% city sales and use tax rate increase from 2.5%, to 3.5%, to help address a projected transportation infrastructure funding gap. The question will appear on the November 3, 2026 general election ballot.
If approved, the total sales tax rate in Centennial, including state, RTD, county, and Scientific & Cultural Facilities District taxes, would rise from 6.75% to 7.75%.
The City maintains a Street Fund to track infrastructure costs and directs approximately $15 million it receives each year from the Highway Users Tax Fund and related state transportation funding streams into that fund. To operate and maintain its transportation infrastructure, the City has been supplementing the Street Fund with about $20 million annually from its general fund, but officials say those supplemental resources will be exhausted by 2028. The City estimates that the 1.0% increase will generate approximately $27 million annually.
According to the City, “Without additional funding, the City anticipates increasing challenges in maintaining existing infrastructure, completing repairs, and advancing transportation projects identified in the Transportation Master Plan,” noting, “Much of Centennial’s infrastructure is 25 to 40 years old and is approaching (or past) the end of its useful life.”
In explaining why it favors a sales tax increase over a property tax increase, the City notes that property taxes are paid only by city residents, while sales tax is paid by everyone who makes a retail purchase in the city, including visitors and commuters. Raising the city sales tax from 2.5% to 3.5% would keep Centennial below the Front Range average of 3.63%, and no current exemptions would change.
Centennial was incorporated 25 years ago with 100,000 residents spread across 30 square miles. Today the city’s population has grown by approximately 10% and includes 41,282 households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2022, Centennial completed a comprehensive Transportation Master Plan that identified more than $100 million in improvements needed over the coming decade.
The city council vote was 7-2. Voting yes were Mayor Christine Sweetland, Mayor Pro Tem Amy Tharp, and Council Members Cindy Sandhu, Steve Carmine, Ashish Vaidya, Ryan Dwiggins, and Durrell Middleton. Council Members Don Sheehan and Richard Holt voted against the measure.
Print source: The Villager, Vol. 44 No. 39, Aug. 20, 2026, page 6. Issuu edition. Print-backed Freda report. A separate campaign midyear package also mentions this tax; this story follows the Aug. 20 print text.