County CFO reports modest sales-tax growth, construction use tax gains

Nikki Simmons, El Paso County chief financial officer, presented the county’s sales and use tax collections on May 27, 2025, reporting mixed results through March and April collections.

Simmons said retail collections remitted to the Colorado Department of Revenue for March 2025 were up 5.13% compared with March 2024; year-to-date retail collections were up 0.71%. She said the county’s budget had assumed a 3.5% increase and that current collections were trailing that projection.

Simmons reported that automobile use tax (collected through the Clerk and Recorder when vehicles are registered) was down about 8% for the month and down about 4.26% year to date; she noted that automobile-related sales tax and use tax can move differently depending on whether sales tax is paid at the dealership or use tax is paid at registration. Use tax collected by regional building for construction materials was up 11.57% for the month of April and up about 20% year to date, which Simmons said aligns with regional building’s permitting trends.

Overall, Simmons said combined collections were up 5.21% for the month of April and were just under 1% year to date. She said the first three months of the fiscal year showed revenue $915,000 below budget projections and that the county continues to monitor revenues as it plans the 2026 budget. Simmons pointed commissioners to more detailed monthly reports and an “attachment A” breakdown by industry available on the county website.

Commissioners did not ask follow-up questions during the presentation; Vice Chair Williams later used the public-comment period to clarify a property-tax calculation after a speaker’s remarks and said the PPLD levy represented a much smaller share of her personal property tax bill than a commenter had asserted.