By Natalie Menten

A tax-hike campaign shouldn’t be funded with public tax dollars to hire political consultants — period. Yet Colorado law contains a loophole that allows public agencies to spend money campaigning under the guise of “education” or “engagement.” That’s exactly what the Front Range Passenger Rail District, an appointed board that includes 17 voting and seven non-voting members — many hand-picked by Gov. Jared Polis — intends to do.

On Oct. 30, the district issued a public bid to hire a consultant team to create a “Friends of Front Range Rail” relational engagement platform. The bid spells out the goal: “build awareness, engagement, and grassroots momentum,” while giving supporters tools to “share campaign content,” “invite friends,” and “earn rewards.”

That’s not outreach. That’s campaigning — with public money. The district has already said it plans to take a tax hike measure to voters in 2026, after deciding that 2024 “wasn’t the right year” for a tax hike. They claimed they wanted a “more complete package” to present to voters — translation: more time for a taxpayer-funded campaign team to electioneer, organize, and recruit. The bid was issued Oct. 30, and the district plans to award the contract and hold the kickoff as early as Nov. 15. That’s barely two weeks later — an alarming sprint to lock in consultants and start building a taxpayer-funded campaign machine.

The project is timed to go live months before the board decides whether to put a new tax on the ballot. By calling it “engagement” and spending the money before there is technically a “ballot issue,” the district sidesteps Colorado’s Fair Campaign Practices Act, which explicitly bans using public funds to influence elections. It’s legalistic trickery — a taxpayer-funded campaign disguised as “community outreach.”

Contracts like this typically run tens of thousands of dollars and may be awarded to politically connected firms. The fine print says spending will stop once a ballot is officially filed, but by then, the consultant will have already built the campaign infrastructure — messaging, volunteer databases, and social-media systems — paid for by taxpayers.

Gov. Polis cannot pretend this is someone else’s problem. His appointees are leading this board. Allowing this contract to proceed amounts to state-sanctioned campaigning with public money. If he believes in ethical government, he should intervene immediately to cancel this contract and commit to closing the loophole that allows such abuses.

This is not about being for or against rail service. It’s about fairness, honesty, and the misuse of taxpayer funds. When government starts running its own campaigns with our money, trust in every public institution erodes.

Gov. Polis should pledge to sponsor legislation next session that ends this practice and close this loophole. No agency should ever use taxpayer funds for “campaign preparation,” “grassroots momentum,” or “engagement platforms.” Campaigns belong in the private sphere — funded by voluntary contributions, not forced taxation.

Coloradans who agree should contact the governor’s office and demand action. Tell him this loophole is wrong and must be closed before one more dime of taxpayer money is inappropriately spent electioneering and evading campaign-finance disclosure:

Gov. Jared Polis
Phone: (303) 866-2471
Email: governorpolis@state.co.us

Natalie Menten served as the board director for the Regional Transportation District from 2012 to 2020 and has served as the board director of the TABOR Foundation and is a taxpayer advocate.