From Rocky Mountain PBS 10/21/2025
DENVER — Sahyana Ruelas faced a difficult choice last month: keep her job as a bank teller in Parachute and spend nearly half of her salary on child care, or quit her job so she can watch her twins herself.
She was spending more than $1,100 a month on day care, so she decided to quit the job to stay at home with her kids. Her husband makes more money working for a fire suppression company, but losing her income will still put a strain on the family, she said, even with the money saved from not sending the kids to day care.
“I wanted to grow financially and have more experience in these professional types of jobs, so it’s difficult on that part because I’m not able to gain that experience anymore,” Ruelas said.
But Ruelas has hope. Voters in Larimer, Pitkin, Garfield and the western part of Eagle County will decide in November’s election whether to approve a .25% sales tax on non-essential items to support child care in the area. Groceries, prescription medications, menstrual products and diapers are excluded from the proposed sales tax increases.
Read more: https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/government/childcare-funding-ball-november-election