Fountain, CO- On August 22nd, 2023, the City of Fountain councilmembers voted to officially add the PPRTA question to the November 2023 ballot.
The City of Fountain is asking the community to vote on becoming a member of the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) this November 2023. The ballot language can be found at the link below:
PPRTA November 2023 Ballot Language
A community led Roadway Focus Group determined it would be beneficial to the Fountain community to join PPRTA based on the funding needed to maintain the roadways that will be impacted by growth in our region and requested. PPRTA is already being funded by our community every time they shop outside of Fountain city limits and in certain areas within the Fountain city limits. This funding is being utilized for roadway improvements within our region, but not within Fountain city limits.
It is estimated by Fountain Finance Department that in the South Academy Highlands area, Fountain taxpayers are losing over $1.2 million to PPRTA projects that are outside of Fountain city limits. At this time, there is no other way of determining the amount of tax revenue lost for road funding that is going to El Paso County or City of Colorado Springs for PPRTA projects.
The below map shows The City of Fountain and which areas of Fountain are already in the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA), due to some past county land that was annexed into Fountain after county became a member of the PPRTA. Those areas are paying the 1% sales tax into the PPRTA already but Fountain does not get any funding from the PPRTA because Fountain is not a member.
The red dots on the map represent future commercial projects and as you can see those commercial projects are in Fountain but they are also inside the PPRTA boundary. Those projects will be paying into the PPRTA but Fountain will not get any funding from the PPRTA unless Fountain residents decide to join.
The below map shows the results of a Pavement Management Survey recently done on the City of Fountain roads. This gives us the Pavement Quality Index (PQI) score of our roads. The overall PQI for the City of Fountain is currently - 34.6.
The State Average =
75th Percentile= PQI 78
Weighted Average= PQI 69
25th Percentile= PQI 61
What is the PPRTA exactly? The Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) is a collaborative effort among six regional governments to improve and maintain roads and support public transit. The members of PPRTA are the cities of Colorado Springs, Calhan, and Manitou Springs, El Paso County, and the towns of Green Mountain Falls, and Ramah.
The PPRTA program is simple: A one-percent sales tax used only for transportation:
55% for a specific list of capital projects
35% for maintenance
10% for transit
To learn more about the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority (PPRTA) click the image below:
If you were not able to attend the Council meeting on August 22nd, 2023, where city councilmembers voted to officially add the PPRTA question to the ballot, you can click on the link below for the recording, time stamp of 1:21:34 will take you to PPRTA discussion:
Council Meeting on August 22nd, 2023
You can find the August 14th, 2023, PPRTA Town Hall meeting at the link below:
PPRTA Virtual Town Hall - August 14, 2023
If you would like to read more about the City of Fountain and the PPRTA click on the link below:
City of Fountain PPRTA Presentation
The City of Fountain conducted a city-wide survey at the beginning of 2023 asking Fountain residents their thoughts on joining the PPRTA. The following link will show you the survey results:
PPRTA Survey Results
PPRTA Survey Verbatim Responses
Topline Results
Yes Responses
No Responses
