Denver voters approved Referred Question 2P and permanently extended the city’s sales tax that provides preschool tuition for Denver kids in the election that concluded Tuesday.

According to preliminary results released by the Denver Elections Division, 76.9% of voters favored the measure while 23.1% opposed it. It was on track to pass by a margin of more than 61,000 votes. Results won’t become official until the election is certified on Nov. 29, according to the clerk’s office.

With the measure’s passage, the city’s 0.15% sales tax — or 15 cents on every $100 purchase — that raises money for preschool tuition for Denver kids will become a permanent fixture of the city’s tax hierarchy.

“We are extremely grateful to the voters of Denver,” Elsa Holguín, the president and CEO of the Denver Preschool Program, said after the first batch of results rolled in Tuesday.

As the law is currently written, the city’s preschool tax would sunset in 2026. But Holguín and supporters felt strongly that the time was right to ask voters to make it permanent.

She referred back to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools and childcare centers were shut down keeping parents home from work and stalling out the economy as well as kids’ educational development.

More than what it might mean economically, 2P supporters are convinced of the social impact that preschool tuition funding is having on the city by setting kids up for better educational and life outcomes in their futures. Kids who attend preschool are better prepared to succeed in kindergarten, elementary school and beyond, Holguín said.

“For us, it’s important because we have seen the results,” she said. “We have all the confidence in the world that we are doing the right work and benefitting our children and our families in Denver.”

Denverites first voted to establish a dedicated sales tax stream to provide educational opportunities for 4-year-olds in 2006. That measure established a 0.12%  — or 12 cents on every purchase of $100 dollars — sale tax to fund the city’s preschool program through 2016.

In 2014, the City Council referred the tax back to voters with a new expiration date and a higher rate of 0.15%

Referred Question 2P does away with that looming deadline.

Supporters of the Yes on 2P campaign highlight that tuition from the program has supported more than 65,000 kids since the tax was first implemented. That includes $18.3 million in tuition credits handed out to families in 2022.

The city’s tax can work in concert with the state’s fledging universal preschool program, according to Denver preschool officials. The Denver program can pay for more hours of preschool than the 15 hours worth of funding provided by the state. In cases of financial hardship, city tuition credits can also be used to enroll 3-year-olds in programs.

No formal opposition cropped up to Referred Question 2P ahead of the election.