Colorado Proposition MM passes: Taxes will go up for households making over $300,000 for school meals

The second of two statewide propositions dealing with funding for a school meals program in Colorado passed in Tuesday's election.

It was one of two propositions that dealt with funding for the state's Healthy School Meals for All program, which voters approved in 2022. The program is experiencing higher costs due to the program's unanticipated popularity, state budget officials say.

Proposition MM dealt with whether or not to raise taxes on households with a certain combined income to help fund the program by limiting deductions.

The increased revenue will be used to pay for the school meals program, including paying employees, and help fund SNAP.  

On Wednesday morning, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office reported the vote results as 58% approved, with 828,425 votes, and 42% rejected, with 598,293 votes. There were still about 21,000 ballots that needed to be counted but that spread was too big for those who voted against it to make up the difference.