Better roads, plans for three new fire stations, more affordable housing and even a newfangled snowplow are some of the amenities coming to Pueblo thanks to the city’s 2021 sales tax windfall.
Pueblo’s sales tax revenue topped out at $81.6 million in 2021, a 27.7% increase above 2020 figures. It was a record year-to-year percentage increase for Pueblo, said Laura Solano, city chief of staff.
Sales tax receipts were nearly $20 million more than pre-pandemic 2019 sales tax collections and $17.7 million more than 2020. Now that city coffers are brimming, residents will start to notice a few changes.
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Pueblo’s Public Works Director Andrew Hayes said the city has committed $10 million to road improvements this year which is “about double what we’ve seen in previous years.”
A pavement overlay is planned for Abriendo Avenue between Washington and Cleveland streets — roughly from Interstate 25 to Dutch Clark Stadium — and Hayes believes that project will be complete this year. West 15th Street, Grand Avenue and Hudson Avenue also will see makeovers.
“People will start to see some results on some fairly major thoroughfares,” he said.
One of the more complicated projects, improving Prairie Avenue between Pueblo Boulevard and Northern, is set to start this year with concrete and then paving improvements. The Prairie project is expected to take longer to complete due to some easement challenges.
“That section of Prairie Avenue is a little rough and it will look like a brand new street when we are done,” Hayes said. “All of those excess (sales tax) monies are certainly helping to facilitate that work.”
“There are a lot of things out there the city can prioritize but probably the largest single asset the city owns is its road network,” he said. “We also are doing a street assessment this year that will help us plan for future projects.”
The city’s 2022 budget, for the first time, was balanced at $108 million.
“That allowed us to backfill some of the missing and required pieces to serve the citizens in public works, stormwater improvements, the new comprehensive plan, affordable housing development and staffing in key positions,” Solano said.
In the affordable housing arena, the city is working with its housing authority, urban renewal officials and NeighborWorks to help address the need for lower-cost places to live.
NeighborWorks is working to establish an annex east of Pueblo Boulevard that will be developed for affordable housing. The Pikes Peak Park development, “will be a good step forward,” in addressing the affordable housing crisis, Solano said.
Saving for a rainy day
“We set aside 2% in reserves so the reserves have gone up. Our fund balance of unappropriated funds increased, so the first $600,000 we will spend out of those funds will go to the design phase of the three new fire stations,” Solano explained.
The city will next deal with how to fund construction of the new fire stations as well as staff and equip them. The sales tax revenue and American Rescue Plan Act funds will help.
“So this came at a good time,” Solano said.
Two areas show huge gains in sales tax revenue
Sales tax collections are divided by geographical region in the city’s sales and use tax collection reports. The area that encompasses the Historic Arkansas Riverwalk of Pueblo reaped a 215% increase in December 2021 as compared to December 2020.
“That is an indication our tourism is rebounding. We also saw a huge increase (1,129%) in online sales tax,” Salano said, which comes from Pueblo residents making online purchases and the state’s tracking system, which enables the return of those sales tax dollars to Pueblo.
One of the businesses that reaped the benefits of the improved economy was the Steel City Artworks Gallery at 216 S. Union Ave.
“Our sales more than doubled in 2021 versus 2020,” said Mary Kaye Boylan, the art co-op’s treasurer. “We had the mandatory closures in 2020, then were only partially open throughout 2020 and into 2021, but sales dramatically increased in the fourth quarter of the year.
“The ‘shop local’ campaign worked in our favor. We are grateful to those customers who have found us and those who have stayed with us and supported us through this difficult time.
“We have a super group of artists who have also stayed and held on, which is a credit to the community and local business,” Boylan said.
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Lodging tax collections also soared
In 2021, Pueblo collected $1.75 million in lodging tax which marked a 51.7% increase when compared to 2020 collections, according to figures shared by the city finance department. The increase was a clear indication that people were feeling more comfortable with overnight travel.
Deciding to take advantage of those eager travelers, Jeff and Cindy Bailey purchased The Abriendo Inn, 300 W. Abriendo Ave., last June. They put out the welcome mat at the century-old luxury inn and event venue after Bailey retired from a 34-year career teaching and coaching at Rye High School.
“We knew we weren’t going to just sit and do nothing in retirement. Once we opened in June, all the way through November, we felt like we were doing pretty good,” Jeff Bailey said.
“Things fell into place even though it was still in a pandemic and it was a little scary, I am not going to lie. It seemed like people were ready to travel and have that wedding they could not have because of COVID in 2020.”
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Cindy Bailey is a longtime florist and wedding planner who wanted the opportunity to own a wedding venue and the timing turned out to be right with her husband retiring.
“It is a one-stop-shop location,” Bailey said. “We’ve got seven suites, so they can put the wedding party here, they can put family here and it’s the same location the wedding and reception are going to happen.”
Solano said lodging tax funds go into the general fund and help support organizations like the chamber, the Pueblo Zoo and the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, all of which help draw tourism.
If the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wind down, Bailey said he envisions “more good things coming” for Pueblo.
“We feel like we have established a new (sales tax) base and if we have established a new base, Pueblo is in a position to continue to grow,” Solano said.
Chieftain reporter Tracy Harmon covers business news. She can be reached by email at [email protected] or via Twitter at twitter.com/tracywumps.
