Colorado voters approve raising taxes on high-income households for free school meals - Coloradoan
Thomas Clayton
Colorado voters approve raising taxes on high-income households for free school meals
Kelly LyellColorado voters resoundingly approved a ballot measure Nov. 4 to raise taxes on high-income households to pay for free school meals for all students at public K-12 schools.
A separate measure also approved by a large margin allows the state to retain excess revenue already collected for the Healthy School Meals for All program, exempting it from refunds that would otherwise be required under the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights.
Proposition LL allows the state to keep and spend $12.4 million in tax revenue previously collected for the program and maintains existing taxes on households earning $300,000 or more annually. It was passing by a margin of 65% to 35% with more than 1.4 million votes counted as of 11 a.m. Nov. 5, according to election results on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website.
Proposition MM increases taxes on households earning $300,000 or more to provide additional funding to the school meals program by limiting the itemized or standard deductions those taxpayers can claim. Federal tax deductions to Colorado taxable income are currently limited to $12,000 for individual filers and $16,000 for joint filers and would have increased in 2026 if Proposition LL had not passed, according to a legislative analysis prepared for voters and published in the 2025 Colorado State Ballot Information Booklet.
The passage of LL and MM will limit the amount of Colorado taxable income households with federal taxable income of $300,000 or more can claim above those $12,000 and $16,000 limits to $1,000 for individual filers and $2,000 for joint filers.
MM also contains a provision that requires the state to spend at least $1 million annually from the Healthy School Meals for All program on previously authorized grants:
- To purchase Colorado-sourced food in school meals, establish student-parent school meal advisory committees.
- Increase wages or provide stipends for employees who prepare and serve school meals.
- Provide training, equipment and technical assistance to help promote healthy school meals using basic, nutritious ingredients, and to support collaboration between schools, communities and local food growers.
The measure was amended by the state legislature in August to also allow the state to apply any excess revenue collected to support recipients of food stamps, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, in response to federal cuts to those benefits.
MM was passing by a margin of 58% to 42% with more than 1.4 million votes cast.
Both measures were placed on the ballot by the state legislature to provide additional funding for the Healthy School Meals for All program that was first approved by Colorado voters in 2022. Without the additional funding provided through LL and MM, the program would have run low on funds in 2026 and been limited only to low-income students or schools and students eligible for benefits under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
“Thanks to voters, every child will have access to healthy meals that support learning health and dignity,” Ana Bustamante, the state manager for the national Save the Children Action Network, said in a news release. “Propositions LL and MM will keep kids fed, classrooms focused and our communities strong.”
Colorado school districts served approximately 194,000 breakfasts and 447,000 lunches daily during the 2024-25 school year, Colorado Department of Education spokesperson Jeremy Meyer told the Coloradoan in an email Nov. 5.
Poudre School District served 990,449 breakfasts and 2,340,621 lunches to students in its schools in 2024-25, Craig Schneider, the district's director of child nutrition, told the Coloradoan on Nov. 5 through school spokesperson John Cope. About 22% of the district's students are eating school breakfasts and 53% eating school lunches on a daily average this school year.
 | Tom Clayton Communication and Media Specialist, Public Affairs |
| Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80522 | 2nd Floor W: (970) 498-7005 tcla...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org |