Carbondale voters rejected a climate action tax in municipal elections Tuesday. The measure would have raised more money for renewable energy and efficiency programs.
According to the committee supporting the proposal, it would have added as much as $7 per month to household electricity bills. As much as $30 would have been added to monthly bills for businesses.
Opponents claim the tax would have put an extra burden on low-income households, and were critical of the way it would have affected businesses harder than residents.
The money would have helped an estimated 400 homes and 50 businesses become more energy efficient by 2022.
Boulder is the only city in Colorado—and one of the few in the country--with a tax of this kind. Boulder voters approved an original version in 2006, and overwhelmingly approved a five-year extension which began in 2013.
