Colorado Springs may ask voters in November to keep $15 million in tax revenues that would otherwise be refunded to create a fundto pay for wildfire mitigation work across the city for years to come.

Mayor John Suthers proposed the idea to the Colorado City Council recently to help reduce the risk of destructive fires in the wildland urban interface, areas where homes are built close to wildlands.

“It is not a question of if. It is a question of when and where we are going to have more wildland fires,” he said.

Two devastating wildfires have swept through town in recent years. The Waldo Canyon fire in 2012 burned down 347 homes and killed two people on the west side of the city and 2013’s Black Forest fire destroyed 486 homes and claimed two more lives.

More recently, hundreds of people were evacuated when a fire started in Bear Creek park in November. Firefighters were able to stop the fire after it blackened 26 acres because the city and residents had significantly thinned trees and brush in the area.

An anticipated $15 million in tax revenues that could be collected in excess of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights cap could be set aside to mitigate some of that fire risk. The cap, set in Colorado’s Constitution,  sets limits including one on how much tax money cities can keep without a public vote.

Once invested, the money could generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest each year to help pay for trees to be thinned and vegetation mowed down near homes to help slow fires and allow firefighters to more easily defend structures.

Councilman Richard Skorman said he would like to see other local governments, such as El Paso County, Manitou Springs and others, also invest in the fund so the effort can be more regional.

The City Council would need to sign off before the wildfire fund went to voters.

Some areas at the highest risk of wildfire are southwest and south of the city near the Broadmoor neighborhood and further south along Colorado Highway 115 in unincorporated El Paso County, where the vegetation is thick and access to homes is along narrow dirt roads, he said.

The work could address eastern portions of the city facing fire risks as well. For example, Palmer Park and open spaces like Corral Bluff, which covers 700 acres along of Highway 94 could benefit.

Supporters say the new fund would provide reliable revenue for mitigation work. Right now fire mitigation work in the city relies heavily on grant funding that ebbs and flows, Suthers said.

A citizen oversight board could help guide the fund and the mitigation projects would be managed by the fire and parks departments which already conduct fire mitigation projects, he said.

The police and fire departments also have pressing funding needs for additional staff and buildings, however Suthers said he expects the city will have revenue in excess of the TABOR cap for the next few years and the city could use those future funds for other public safety needs.

If voters pass the fund in the fall, fire mitigation could be underway by spring, Suthers said.