Term limits stay, county lodging tax fails; two tax questions undecided

Montezuma County voters are projected to have rejected both county ballot questions on Tuesday, leaving term limits in place for four county offices and the county lodging tax where it is. The two town tax questions — one in Cortez, one in Mancos — were still undecided on Wednesday morning, with neither close enough to call.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Colorado Secretary of State unofficial results for Montezuma County

The figures below are from the county’s count posted at 11:38 p.m. Tuesday, as reported by the Colorado Secretary of State. They are unofficial. Counties post further updates through November 12, the deadline for a voter to fix a signature problem on a ballot, and the results are not final until the county certifies them later this month.

County Question 1A: term limits stay

Question 1A asked whether the county Assessor, Clerk and Recorder, Surveyor and Treasurer should be allowed to serve an unlimited number of consecutive terms. It is projected to fail, which leaves the existing term limits on those four offices unchanged.

It failed by a wide margin: 7,639 votes against, or 73.6 percent, to 2,743 in favor, or 26.4 percent, out of 10,382 votes cast on the question. Calling it a projection is a Cortez Current projection, based on the margin against the ballots still to be counted.

1A was the only question on all four of the county’s sample ballots, and it drew the most votes of the four — more than twice as many as the Cortez question.

County Question 1B: lodging tax stays at 2 percent

Question 1B would have raised the county lodging tax from 2 percent to 5 percent from January 1, 2027, everywhere in the county except the City of Cortez, which levies its own. The ballot estimated the increase at about $405,000 in 2027, earmarked for tourism promotion and marketing, outdoor recreation and visitor infrastructure, destination development, tourism resiliency and emergency recovery, and administering the tax.

It is projected to fail, again a Cortez Current projection: 4,603 votes against, or 59.2 percent, to 3,174 in favor, or 40.8 percent, out of 7,777 votes. The question appeared only on ballots outside the City of Cortez, which is why fewer voters saw it than saw 1A.

Cortez Question 2A: trailing by 129 votes

The City of Cortez’s Question 2A, which would raise the city lodgers’ tax from 2 percent to 6 percent from January 1, 2027, trailed in unofficial results with ballots still being counted. There were 1,399 votes against, or 52.4 percent, to 1,270 in favor, or 47.6 percent — a margin of 129 votes out of 2,669 cast.

The Cortez Current is not projecting a result on 2A. The city’s share of the increase was capped in the county’s certified notice of election at $900,000 in tax collection year 2027, and the money was to go to tourism marketing, economic development and redevelopment inside the city, and arts and cultural events, programs and facilities. The question would also have let the council set the rate anywhere up to 6 percent.

The Cortez Current set out what Question 2A would do last month.

Mancos Question 2B: leading by 73 votes

The Town of Mancos’s Question 2B, a new town-wide sales tax that would bring the town’s total sales tax to 4.4 percent, led in unofficial results: 275 votes in favor, or 57.7 percent, to 202 against, or 42.3 percent, out of 477 cast — a margin of 73 votes. The Cortez Current is not projecting a result on this one either.

The town estimated the tax would raise about $325,000 in 2027, to be used only for street improvements and broadband capital improvements and equipment, and their operation and maintenance. It was the smallest electorate of the four questions, and 73 votes is a margin that the ballots still outstanding could still move.

The county offices and House District 58

Every county office on the ballot was uncontested, and each candidate was the only name in the race. In the same count: Sheriff Tyson Cox had 7,145 votes, Clerk and Recorder Jerri Frizzell 7,274, Treasurer Ellen Black 7,224, Assessor Leslie Kennedy-Bugg 6,877, Surveyor Rita Caffey 6,872 and Coroner George Deavers 7,376.

State House District 58 was also uncontested. Larry Don Suckla was the only candidate and had 18,779 votes across the district.

The District 1 county commissioner race, the only contested county race on the ballot, has its own story. Full numbers for every race and question on Montezuma County ballots, including the statewide offices and the 14 statewide measures, are on the Current’s live results page, which updates itself as counties report.

What the four questions actually asked, and who was on each ballot, is set out in the Current’s voter guide.

Sources: Colorado Secretary of State unofficial results for Montezuma County, count posted November 3, 2026 at 11:38 p.m., read through the Cortez Current results feed · Montezuma County notice of election to increase taxes · Cortez Current voter guide, September 20, 2026