Durango City Council has asked staff members to look into the possibility of providing a tax exemption for feminine hygiene products.

The Community Relations Commission asked City Council to consider free access to feminine hygiene products at public-access city facilities and to look into tax exemptions for the products.

City staff members said that because menstrual products are available free at Durango-La Plata County Airport, it would be a matter of consistency for the same products to be available at the Durango Community Recreation Center.

“We already provide those at the city-county airport, so making sure that we are consistent along all fronts, we’ve gone ahead and made that change,” said City Manager José Madrigal.

At a study session Tuesday, all five council members were supportive of the staff’s decision to expand free menstrual products to more city facilities.

“I think it’s great that the CRC recommended both of these options, and I’m really glad that the city has already stepped up to provide them free of charge,” said Mayor Kim Baxter. “There’s times when you don’t have any money in your pocket.”

According to City Attorney Dirk Nelson, if City Council wants to move toward a tax exemption for menstrual products, it has two options: One would be to make the products sales-tax exempt at stores, which would require the adoption of an ordinance; the other would be a rebate system.

Nelson said feminine hygiene products would most likely fall under the tax-exempt category of medical products. Currently, the city has sales-tax exemptions on certain medical products, most notably prescription drugs.

City Council directed staff members to look further into the tax-exemption process by discussing it with retailers and to come back with recommendations for moving forward.

Colorado is one of 30 states that have not passed a statewide tax exemption for feminine hygiene products.

“I think this is an opportunity for Durango to be at the front of the pack on some of these issues that other states have taken on,” said City Councilor Barbara Noseworthy.

Other cities, such as Denver and Aurora, have already made feminine hygiene products tax-exempt.

njohnson@durangoherald.com