On November 4th, 2025, an overwhelming majority of Coloradans decided to increase state income taxes by passing two ballot issues: Propositions LL and MM. The two initiatives will provide the state with additional funds to support the Healthy School Meals for All (HSMA) Program. HSMA provides funding to Colorado public schools, allowing them to offer free meals to every student, regardless of income. ASD is the only public district in Colorado that is not part of the program.
The first of the two propositions, Proposition LL, passed with a total of more than one million votes (66%). Proposition LL is a result of Proposition FF, which was approved by Colorado voters in 2022. The 2022 ballot measure reduced state income tax deductions (the amount of income that may be earned tax-free) for Coloradans who earn more than $300,000 per year, resulting in more total income tax paid. State analysts under-projected the tax earnings from this new proposition, and Colorado received $11.3 million more than expected. Colorado laws require that this extra revenue be returned to taxpayers unless voters explicitly allow the state to retain it. By passing Proposition LL, Colorado voters allowed the state to keep the extra money, and it will now go toward funding HSMA.
The Democratic Party of Colorado supported the measure. No political parties openly opposed it. In Pitkin County, more than three quarters of voters voted “yes” on Proposition LL. Voting results are only broken down by county, not municipality, so Aspen voters are not listed separately from Pitkin County as a whole.
Proposition LL only deals with taxes that Coloradans have already paid and will not lead to new ones. Proposition MM, on the other hand, will reduce state income tax deductions for taxpayers making more than $300,000 a year. Those taxpayers will now pay more income tax overall. Proposition MM passed with a smaller margin than LL; only 979,000 voters, or 59%, voted “yes” in the measure. MM is projected to raise nearly $100 million to fund HSMA.
“To date, the tax revenue generated has not been sufficient to cover the cost of the [HSMA] program,” the Colorado Legislature wrote in a document informing voters about Proposition MM. “The increased tax revenue [from Prop. MM] will be used to offer free meals to all public school students and to fund grant programs previously approved by voters that have not yet been implemented.”
Additionally, excess funds from Proposition MM will be used to fund SNAP benefits. Excess funds are not guaranteed, and the legislature notes that even the money generated by Proposition MM may be insufficient to fully fund HSMA. However, the passage of Propositions LL and MM together increases the likelihood that the state will have sufficient funds to fully finance the program.
Though ASD, one of the major school districts in the valley, does not participate in HSMA, Proposition MM still passed in Pitkin County. Seven in ten voters, totalling around 4,000, voted “yes” on the program. As with Proposition LL, the Democratic Party of Colorado supported the measure, and no party was openly against it.
There were no other state ballot measures this year.
