Vote NO on 5A
Protect downtown Manitou springs
For 35 years, downtown parking has worked—because community members and locally owned businesses built and operated parking lots through fiscal accountability and local control
In 1989, when downtown businesses faced a crippling parking shortage, local citizens didn’t wait for City Hall. They came together to form the Manitou Springs Metropolitan District, a focused, locally governed solution dedicated to one mission: making downtown work.
That mission has delivered real results.
Two public parking lots built (Wichita Lot and Smischny Lot)
A third site acquired with plans for up to 44 new spaces
Pedestrian improvements, maintenance, and beautification
Parking operations fully funded by parking revenue—not taxpayers
All while cutting taxes and minimizing costs to local taxpayers. The District’s mill levy has dropped from 14 mills in 1990 to just 0.44 mills today. In 2024, the average property owner paid about $33, while parking revenues exceeded $394,000, covering all operations and reinvestment.
This is what local control looks like: efficient, transparent, and accountable.
Now, the City of Manitou Springs wants to seize control of the metro district’s parking lots to control of its assets including the parking lots and revenue.
Why? The City is trying to seize the District’s assets to fill its growing budget hole, using a short-term money grab to address the City government’s significant fiscal irresponsibility.
The City recently raided its own Parking and Mobility Fund to the tune of $400,000 to back fill the general fund. If the City seizes control of the metro district’s assets, it will increase parking fees and continue to put a band-aid on its budget problems.
Click here for the full article.
We need to reject the City’s cash grab by voting No on 5A!
5A will significantly hurt Manitou Springs residents and locally owned businesses by:
Granting the City a monopoly on downtown parking, allowing City Council to raise parking rates at will. Increased parking rates will push shoppers and visitors away from downtown Manitou Springs, hurting local businesses and their employees.
Threatening the future and stability of downtown parking as the City uses parking revenue for other budget issues, likely diminishing the maintenance and safety of downtown parking lots.
Reducing oversight and local control as the district’s lots become controlled by a bureaucracy that is not represented by the local businesses that established the metro district and have responsibly manage its tax dollars and parking lots for more than two decades.