A question to voters regarding a lodging tax in the Town of Monument will officially be on its November 5 election ballot.

During the regular meeting of the Monument Town Council Aug. 19 at Monument town hall, council approved an ordinance to submit to voters a Nov. 5 ballot issue concerning the imposition of a lodging tax and amend the Monument town code to provide for the same.

The ordinance had come before the council a couple times prior to the meeting, earlier in the year, and was revised for approval prior to the deadline for inclusion on the Nov. 5 ballot. It puts the decision to impose a lodging tax in the hands of voters at a proposed rate of 5%. The estimated revenue for the first year would be $220,000.

From prior discussions, the ballot question’s proposed revenue from the lodging tax would be used for “town-owned parks,” and for the lodging tax administration, collection, enforcement and compliance.

While short-term rentals would be affected by the measure, the town is not yet set up with licensing and a fee schedule for such businesses. Town attorney Bob Cole said he has been working with the town finance department and its sales tax collection consultant to create an ordinance regarding lodging sales tax administration to establish those protocols.

First draft of the subsequent ordinance is expected to be put in front of the council early October at the latest, Cole said.

Not only do the town’s parks need improvements and updates presently, interim town manager Madeline VanDenHoek said parks in general need updating every 10-15 years.

“The surfacing gets worn out so there’s a lot of maintenance costs in parks that we probably haven’t always done a great job of addressing in the past,” she said. “I imagine we’ll be able to continue to do work in our parks with these ongoing funds.”

In addition, should the measure pass, town council would be able to include trails and open spaces as “parks” by ordinance. However, that designation may not happen until the town’s Parks Master Plan is completed so a clear vision of those facilities are established.

Mayor Mitch LaKind clarified the ordinance for the ballot question is solely to collect the tax, and other steps that would be involved in the administration of it are yet to be done, such as the creation of a Parks Committee with members representing both of the town’s voting districts. The ordinance was approved 6-0 with Councilmember Jim Romanello being absent.

Among other ordinances approved was one regarding a ballot question to Monument voters should a change be made to the town’s Home Rule Charter. The change involves the residency requirements of the Town Manager of which the charter presently says must be within Monument town limits.

The change would require the Town Manager to reside in the 80132 zip code, which was the requirement for the position prior to the Home Rule Charter. That ordinance was also approved 6-0.