Long-term finances and tax ballot measures

must reach an agreement with each affected taxing entity regarding property tax increment before council can approve any plan

You can use sales tax financing. You can just use bonds. It doesn't matter.

all of the projects listed in the recreation and safety bond are underneath a such as clause

I myself will take action and organize a ballot initiative for the 25,000 cyclists living in this town to be removed from committing any tax dollars

is this really something that community would just sort of broadly be interested in? Um because I I'm I'm not quite sure

could we create new financing strategies and mechanisms that are available, whether that's through bonds

Our long-term financial strategy was indicated a top council priority in 2024

merging some of our specific funds to a public realm tax where we could have more flexibility from year to year

Front Range Passenger Rail sales tax measure discussion Total Time: 5 Min

Um, this does give projected estimates of our fund financials over time.

It reauthorizes us as a special district and then takes whatever language requires voter approval and refers that to local ballot measures.

our longterm strategy talks about identifying these and I think that we need to fully pursue more of these strategies

The 0.25 25 cent sales tax fund is expected to go negative starting in 2031 and that negative amount grows to 1.2 million negative by 2032.

support from city council on the work uh and top council priority on the long-term financial strategy

assuming that there is no passage of any um upcoming uh bond measures, tax measures that voters are considering

items in the current CIP that uh in that are addressed in the bond package that will be on the ballot in November

And then finally, our ballot measure strategy for 2025 and 2026 led to the successful 2025 ballot measure

long-term financial strategy including the work on the long-term financial comprehensive plan which will come forward to city council this December

Our additional recreational marijuana retail sales tax. So, there's increases

Consideration of a motion to approve the order of the City of Boulder ballot measures

what does it look like when on your ballot you have um five or six different taxes

ultimately I cannot vote against this ballot measure because as one council member said, I don't really have a better idea right now

I want to remind everybody here that the polling for this ballot measure was not good

submitting to the electors of the city of Boulder at the Regular Municipal Coordinated Election to be held on Tuesday November 3, 2026

Boulder County Early Childhood Care and Education Mill levy increase. The ballot measure would increase property taxes in Boulder County by 2.579 mills

you all saw a brief preview of some of these ballot measures um, earlier on and I'm going to give you uh, this evening an update uh, updated summary and ask for some direction from council.

2026 State/County Ballot Measures Staff Time: 15 Min Council Time: 15 Min Total Time: 30 Min

this evening we will start our discussion on the 2026 potential uh ballot measures and staff recommendations

the city now needs a $650 million tax bailout in the recreation and safety bond

We need to make sure that if new money is raised, it is appropriated.

the question of authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purpose of financing community recreation, safety infrastructure, and other capital projects

Board Discussion of Role in 2026 Ballot Measures (30 minutes)

to give feedback on a on one of the ballot measures

evidenced by the withdrawal of the 2024 ballot measure due to strong opposition

particularly if council tonight considers putting a measure on the ballot as a way to keep faith with the petitioners

authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purpose of financing community recreation, safety infrastructure, and other capital projects

Do council members agree with staff recommendation to consider one of the two ballot measures

do council members wish to proceed with a tax increase ballot measure

The first is 2026 ballot measure polling results where we will be looking for feedback from council on which ballot measures you would like staff to proceed

Long-Term Financial Strategy Update: 2026 Potential Ballot Items Poll Results and Fund Our Future Engagement Results

Consideration of a motion to accept the May 14, 2026 City Council Study Session Summary regarding the Financial Forecast and Potential Ballot Measures

have we analyzed the sales tax revenues that we would make from allowing a business to host such an event

I care very much about some of these ballot measures um you know and I'm very interested in having us take a position on them.

There is an initiative with signatures being collected. It's 308.

So so far there are six ballot measures officially on the ballot uh for November.

the theory, right, is that that growth can be attributed to the investments that have been made back into the DDA

So, about 50% of our projection would continue to grow for the taxing partners.

it would be another input across all funds that are supported by sales tax

City Council will discuss the long-term financial strategy and ballot measure check in mid-June

we want to state in the ballot measure language that the PRAB feels very strongly

staff is crafting the ballot measure language, please note that we want to make sure that parks is

the potential 2026 tax ballot measures were developed as part of the multi-year ballot measure strategy

The purpose of tonight's meeting is to provide the current financial forecasts to continue review of 2026 ballot measures

The parks and public improvement mill levy is an option that was brought forward last year and would increase

Ballot Measures Staff Time: 30 Min Council Time: 60 Min Total Time: 90 Min

We urge the city council to put a housing vacancy tax on the ballot

would some council members pursue raising property taxes on Boulder residents

the main reason I'm here tonight is to urge you to place a residential vacancy tax on this year's ballot

So you can enter into these revenue sharing agreements.

it is essentially capturing property taxes that have base value of an area, the current property taxes, that's not touched.

How much incremental property taxes, sales taxes, lodging taxes could be generated in that area?

city council meeting for the long-term financial strategy and ballot measures that is happening on Thursday, June 25th

they will also be discussing potential ballot items for 2026

currently looking at ballot measures to try to bring in more money.

If we charged a commensurate tax of just $20 per square foot, an estimate on the lower side of the market.

And these bonds, and these loans. That are on the public's back.

It actually comes out of their property taxes, and so it's very easy to pay, RTD through that way.

neighborhoods that actually had a ballot initiative to create their own general improvement district, specifically to pay for a neighborhood EcoPass

we are considering tax ballot measures that we will we will be bringing forward to City Council on May 14th

In March, you discussed the long-term financial strategy and some ballot measures.

I would be very open to thinking differently about how our city brings in revenue beyond ballot measures and sales tax

Fund Our Future, our facilities assessment, and exploring ballot measures, I hope that paints a much clearer picture

forward with the ballot measure which would change the dedicated open space tax

Because they were talking about possibly doing, some further ability to create debt or a new tax

In May, on May 14th, will be the City Council discussion on 2026 ballot measures.

it's the timeline that I laid out, that slide of April 9th, City Council study session, May 14th, conversation on ballot measures

They get a financial forecast on city revenues and funding, and they'll talk about ballot measures for 2026.

There will be opportunities to provide input on city budget decision making, potential tax ballot measures, and more.

The next transformational option would be to reduce the city's sales tax rate and replace it with a property tax mill levy.

Tonight serves as an early preview and a preliminary discussion on a range of options for potential 2026 ballot measures.

I'd really like to um consider it not necessarily for like drafting a ballot measure for right now

sales tax is the primary driver of our city's revenue.

That'll be the annual financial forecast as well as another check-in on ballot items.

where we'll talk a little bit about the broader financial strategy

the vacancy tax that's being talked about, explored, whatever, is between 1 and 3 million annually

So your base is your base. If your base is $10 million in sales tax.

Based on the modeling so far, property tax tip alone likely does not generate enough capacity to meaningfully reinvest at the scale that we've been discussing

the 30-year capacity is how much money you kind of have to do improvements in the early stages.

We also have other impact fees, property taxes, and short-term rental taxes.

Those conversations in April will inform Council's deliberations in May on potential ballot measures.

In 2025, City Council did advance two ballot measures to advance the long-term financial strategy.

the funds to do everything that we want to do, and those funds will have to come through ballot measure in November.

the 2026 ballot measures. And then we will have another uh study session on April 9th

Since moving to Boulder in 2021, my property taxes have increased significantly three times

Residents have voted for CCRS tax extensions in 21 and into 2025 that explicitly state recreation center renovations and replacements

we were talking about if we could change the way the permanent parks fund is spent

more sustainable funding for Transportation Department than… than sales taxes.

wanted to do this last year in a ballot measure

as we prepare for the 2027 budget process and potential 2026 ballot initiatives

the long-term financial strategy. This has been a multi-year process, and then, of course

In May, there will be a City Council study session on the long-term financial strategy, and they will weigh in on ballot scenarios.

There's a real challenge here in the limits on both property tax and just sales tax thresholds, right?

when they issue bonds, they are already going to have to give quarterly reports to the market about what's going on with development

privately placed debt is uh common. Um what we're really talking about um are quote developer bonds

the reality is, is all these properties are still paying all their taxes

increasing taxes on top of other increasing taxes

the team will be bringing forward as part of the long-term financial strategy

We brought this forward as part of our Financial Strategies Committee

come out with a broader list, have the finance strategy committee narrow that list

Now, we have financial strategy committee. Currently, we have council members

one major policy consideration is whether or not a DEA, a proposed DEA, would come with a mill levy

turnout is often very low, in these, types of elections

we're still targeting a November ballot initiative this year

Have any money? Revenue? You know, sales tax would do it.

We had ballot issue number 2C related to the CCS tax extension. It was a taber measure.

We have the 2026 recommended property tax projection.

if those 30 mills don't um produce what it takes to pay debt service, they go into default

you have a set mill levy that says we're going to levy say 30

Most metro districts across the state primarily finance infrastructure and operations with property taxes.

That's part of the challenge the City of Boulder is facing, right? Declining revenue. Increasing demands.

would probably even require the state to approve any significant changes, because it's a tax increase.

We think it would be a credibility concern when you've advertised a ballot measure and given examples of projects to then not fund those projects.

So, of every dollar in property tax collected, 14 cents goes to the City of Boulder.

Fund Our Future is a community engagement conversation. It's not a strategy.

In March 2025, Council approved $66 million in Series 2025 bonds to fund the first phase.

given how much of our budget still depends on sales tax

we're fulfilling our commitment to voters and in building all of this infrastructure

it is an important part of our long-term financial strategy as we seek to

gather their direction, and prepare for the November 2026 ballot initiative

We did endorse the initiative that you were talking about earlier, the county, mental health sales tax

2026 will really be focused on an additional ballot measure based on community input

will be on the ballot in 26, but will not be dedicated to specific projects, or will we

CCRS currently expires in 2035, on the November ballot next week.

developing a multi-year ballot measure strategy for both 2025 and 2026

the city has uh been working on the top council priority of the long-term financial strategy this year in 2025

how do we make this something that will appeal to them so that it does succeed when it does reach the ballot

We don't think we have the votes to do with the Hill, let's just focus on downtown, and we can be removed from the boundary.

it would um add a new sales tax to increase significantly the funding for uh mental health and behavioral health services

coordination of tax ballot measures with within broader city financial planning including alternative funding mechanisms

the long-term financial strategy builds upon the recommendations of the blue ribbon commission reports

With the news from the city manager today. Seems like there's a lot of hurdles between what the budget is

And it just really helps us understand how we project into the future, kind of the health of the fund.

Every fund is required to have an operating reserve as part of city policy.

I'm fairly certain that there are two items related to CCRS on the ballot.

So the bond is already included in the ballot language that's appearing on the ballot this November.

if CCRS is approved by the voters this November, it extends the, collection of that tax in perpetuity

that we'd get Sundance coming to Boulder, and that we would have this wonderful two-way ballot measure

Being transformational is what the two-way ballot measure was all about. It was not about incrementalism.

It is not just the arts, culture, and heritage dedicated sales tax.

Five ballot measures. What are you going to do when we've got two to three times our energy expense

What you do see, there is a reduction of about $2 million.

we're recommending that we do at least a temporary reduction to Boulder Junction parking for the time being.

trying to take some things into consideration, like the Senate bill that was passed in the end of 24

is part of the work that we've been working on with the long-term financial strategy that I mentioned in the presentation

our major revenue sources of sales and use tax and property tax flattening and declining against our original forecasts

we developed the multi-year ballot measure strategy framework considering what other potential taxes might be on the ballot

staff advanced the long-term financial strategy in 2025 by developing a multi-year ballot measure strategy framework for 2025 and 2026.

It focuses on the coordination of tax ballot measures within broader city financial planning

The TMF will free up a portion of existing sales tax revenue to provide the required 20% local matching funds for federal and state

we need to, in many ways, look at additional revenue sources, to help maintain the city's economic vitality.

submitting a ballot question to the city's electors at the November 4th, 2025 general municipal coordinated election

the financial and fiscal conversations, I would love to have a little bit more of a alignment between

because our sales tax projections change, right?

So as staff, we're sitting here and we're trying to figure out, what does our sales tax revenue projections look like?

So 1B was passed by the voters that generates about $18 million a year, countywide.

Sales tax went on the ballot, I think the year was 2002.

And it would go on the ballot, and it would do 10 times as much good for the people

Parks Department is a CSAT, so we would like that ballot measure to pass.

I can tell you that as soon as it's on the ballot, we can't provide staff opinion on it.

So, there is a CCRS tax that currently exists that's coming back onto the ballot for an extension.

It takes property owners also voting to tax themselves.

city council considered two ballot measure options, including both the.3% CCRS sales and use tax as well as the public realm

The multi-year ballot measure strategy and framework is a two-year approach within the city's long-term financial strategy

that would place the 2025 ballot measure before the voters without raising taxes to extend the

I would have ideally liked to see this as a property tax but I um understand

I'm also very concerned about the fact that it's a sales tax

I do not want to put a tax on the ballot without substantial evidence that it's going to be supported by the community

Boulder's General fund should support the city of Boulder Arts staff, and overhead allocations

like we had to make an update 2 months ago, because sales tax has gone down pretty substantially

since we are on a sales tax, these are all going to be estimates, too, so we can estimate our fund balance

Initially in 1985 reapproved in 2015 13 with the money available in 2035.

So the Permanent Parks Fund comes from. It's not property tax based.

we are forecasting what people are going to spend in sales tax.

We enjoy a dedicated sales tax. That's a 6 percent sales tax or 0 point 6% sales tax that was approved in 67.

to talk a little bit about the long term financial strategy.

fund our future, which is the community engagement arm of the long term financial strategy effort

Did authorize the city to bond, I think, was up to 10 million dollars, but we have not exercised any of that authority.

But if you don't even have an online projection right now, how are you going to make a future projection?

that's 1 of those things that does go into our really favorable triple a bond rate

Historically, we bonded with water and sewer together, but that's not to say that we couldn't bond separately.

We also spent time reviewing our financial strategies specifically how we manage our reserve funds.

Being able to bring people downtown directly relates to creating sales tax which directly impacts the general fund.

But this is all, you know, really a good opportunity for Tab to be following that conversation around the long term financial strategy for the city.

pursuing for a 2026 ballot initiative that would then start generating revenue 2027 course

do council members have questions on the 2025 statistically valid polling survey and results of the two potential tax ballot measures

One of the four initiatives of the long-term financial strategy is to develop a multi-year ballot measure strategy

it is the polling survey results on the 2025 potential tax ballot measures related to long-term financial strategy.

Any change in sales, tax projections impacts the fund health overall. So always keeping a close eye on it.

why are the property tax revenues down 8%? Because we just everyone's paying more property taxes.

The 3 ballot measures that were pulled were the extension of the community culture, resilience and safety tax.

So with that we have provided some numbers as far as what this means for revenue projections in the sales tax.

What what's the time frame on issuing one of these bonds? How early do you have to start work on that?

we bonded about four times in the water fund

we're planning to pay for that project with bonds and finance it over time and that allows us to keep reasonable smooth rate increases

There's a there's another property tax issue that will be on the ballot in November that goes by various different names

that the sales tax is not predictable or reliable year to year

there's going to be a really big community process around the city's long term financial strategy

particularly the major revenue sources of sales and use tax and property tax below what was anticipated

We have already heard back from our bond Council that that has had a positive effect on our bond rating.

boulder's general fund should support the city of Boulder art staff, and overhead the dedicated fund should support the activities spelled out in the ballot measure

the out of Excel ballot measure has been withdrawn

we are working backwards from the goal Um, of a potential ballot measure in November 2026.

The draft does not include any changes in the middle levy, because we're still kind of TBD on those directions

And this is something that may come to you at the June meeting. When they talk about ballot measures.

won't have anything to do with ballot measures, though. Right? That's just the budget plus.

in the context of flat or even declining tax revenues for the city

We must have a funding mechanism to assist those who need it.

I thought there was another ballot issue underway along the lines of all development has to pay its own way.

So there's not really a West End area for sales tax that we're tracking perfect.

we've basically kind of done a flat projection for property tax that is.

property taxes are flattening. Y'all probably notice in your assess values that you got from the county this year.

continue looking at a couple of ballot measures this year

Unfortunately, sales tax does not keep up with inflation, and we have seen declining purchasing power over the last couple decades

I'll provide a very brief info intro on how this fits within the city's long term financial strategy

particularly focus on ballot measures this year, alternative funding opportunities

our multi-year ballot measure strategy framework that we uh put together and also presented to council back uh in April

So our agenda tonight um will be we'll go through the charter review committee recommendations

So the way that works is you are certainly welcome to support or oppose any ballot measure.

There is a citizen's petition that's being circulated right now that has to gather signatures by May 28th to get on the ballot.

The two ballot measures that passed were misinformation campaigns.

parking, revenue and property taxes combined is about $70,000.

It is coming from a dedicated sales tax. That was from 2,017, and that has to be stuck with.

Just given the headwinds of what has happened at the State legislative level for property taxes and also the reassessment.

we support a ballot measure because Parks is 500 million dollars underfunded.

There's a lot of reasons to align it with an even year election.

you're all aware of the long term, financial strategy, potential ballot measures in both 2025, and 2026

the city's sales tax would be captured the increase would be captured on property tax

It wouldn't otherwise impact current municipal funding.

we have other ballot initiatives in which we are seeking voter approval to fund our long-term financial strategies

the multiyear ballot measure framework. So we performed analysis of tax ballot measure history.

a two-year framework for consideration of potential tax ballot measures in 2025, and 2026.

So this focus of this work is really focused on developing a long term financial strategy

With our 2026 tax ballot measures, we're interested in looking at a more expanded creative and comprehensive approach to tax changes

focusing just the next 2 slides on the multiyear ballot measure framework that we've developed within the long term financial strategy

looking at potential tax ballot measures for 2025, and focusing on underfunded core services across the organization

This is our dedicated sales tax fund. That's really towards the operations and maintenance

There's 2 measures on the table. One is to extend the Ccrs through 2050

I hope we can take that up in the financial strategies um work

during our long-term financial strategies conversation we looked at the long list of unmet infrastructure needs

2026 tax ballot measures for this second year of the multi-year ballot measure.

The multi-year ballot measure framework focuses on again a 2 year approach to potential tax changes that we're looking at within the organization.

staff proposed and explored options uh in discussion with the financial strategy committee uh for potential tax ballot measures for 2025.

where we focused on uh developing a multi-year ballot measure framework

the multi-year ballot measure strategy focuses on the development of a multi-year ballot measure approach for 2025 and 2026

the optimistic part is that we are having the long term financial strategy conversation

There's been pending legislation at the state level that changes property tax that there's obviously concerns with that citywide.

The light green is our point 2 5 cents sales tax. That's the dedicated sales tax that the department receives.

putting up something on the ballot measure, putting a ballot. a measure on the ballot to raise money

that talks about property taxes and would give you some a little bit more detail into what voters approved

We also looked at the sources and uses of caged funds from 2019 again, as the baseline year before covid, through 2025.

because you folks are paying property tax to both entities, and we heard from some stakeholders.

it creates a potential new revenue source through something called tax increment financing, and it allows us to capture future increases in property, tax revenue

coming up this year there will be discussion at council about the city's long-term financial strategy.

we will continue to work with the city as it develops its long term, financial strategy, and use this to provide guidance

financially I I feel strongly that we're were in the right place to be taking this Bond step

we've had some people testify about the bonds under ordinance 8690

we had two ballot measures voted on by the community directly on this issue and that's on top of countless studies

It's part of the financial strategy of the city.

property, tax assessment and revenue from district assets cannot sufficiently cover costs

we have worked with the financial strategy committee over the past uh four months I would say in looking at our tax ballot measure framework for 2025 and 2026

we developed a multi-year b uh tax ballot measure framework for 2025 and 2026 with the 2025 ballot measures focused on

do you have ballot measures in mind or what type of ballot measures are we talking about

we've seen our property taxes get raised by 30 or 40% over the decade

you would have to find money for both the capital and the ongoing operations of that new space.

and then third pursuing a ballot measure um to tax unoccupied residential

pursuing a ballot measure that would disincentivize leaving rental uh residential premises vacant

we issued a separate ballot measure called the occupation tax utility occupation tax

The 2 situations in which we would maybe get to an opt out, either via council directly or community ballot measure.

They could put that on the November ballot affirmatively

We would, we would be developing them as staff, as a city recommended initiative.

2025 ballot measures is really focused on a more focused and incremental approach to tax measures

understanding and looking at our development of potential ballot measures and our multi-year ballot measure approach

is a long term financial strategy for the city, and that is a huge initiative in 2025

construction use tax seems like low hanging fruit to me

waive some of those fees for the readaptive use of this building, but still gonna pay property tax

waive the construction use tax for those projects

as sales fall in the industry, so does sales, taxes, and all the things that we do with our sales.

So true taxes are subject to tabor, which means it has to go through a ballot measure.

about um our long-term budgeting and financial strategy is as all departments are aligning

how will the climate action plan be integrated with the city's long-term Financial strategy

to adjourn this meeting of the general canvasing Board of the city of Boulder

that item did fail with a yes vote of 2,491 and a no vote of 21556

the following ballot measures were presented to the electors at the November 5th 2024 election

I can add just then the connection to the long term financial strategy and ballot strategy?

So I will be able to answer that question more accurately in the 1st quarter right now it's unknown. Is there a ballot in 25?

funding recreation facilities with the 25 ballot? Or does that wait for 26 when there is more defined costing, and actual schematic design?

I'm a little confused about the projections of additional sales tax uh to offset the the various costs

the really interesting one is sales tax so again if we were in 2015 we would have focused on sales tax performance

in the past. We've talked about maybe changing how parking is collected. As far as what that mill levy rate is.

So part of that is us diving deep into our revenue sources and uses.

Did anyone have any questions on the financials for the sales tax report.

any of the ballot strategies would align with a November election most likely

there's been talk about Bond measures floating around is a as a possible solution for some of these Rec Center issues

a lot of those Investments have been made with bonds um and that's something that requires voter approval

motion to adopt ordinance 8661 establishing the 2024 city of Boulder property tax Mill levies

exploring new fees or revenues that could you know, bolster the the budget

the city is embarking on a citywide long-term financial strategy

But will ballot question 2 E have any impact on any of this?

my understanding is we're going to be looking at the long-term Financial strategies

developing a ballot measure strategy for 2025 and 2026

if you've been following the budget you know how important sales tax is to our city budget

decline in retail restaurants and other industries that generate sales tax so that compounds our our city problems our city organizational funding problems

based on the state's tax base it was up about 1% or so 0.9% so underperforming the 30 uh jurisdictions on average

the measure reads, quote direct and grant funding for arts and culture nonprofits. professional artists, arts, education.

It's the ballot measure language. I just wanted to pass that out information.

The intent of the ballot measure was to provide a more vibrant and sustainable arts, environment that benefits the whole community.

There is more funding coming so hopefully from one B. That was just asked last election cycle.

They got tax exemption. So you're right. There is like an expense line item that gets eliminated.

Well, that's 1 thing the city could do is create a tax incentive for that.

There's some backlog sales tax that didn't come in. So there are some fluctuations that happen year over year.

we could raise that mill rate to collect additional property taxes to provide additional benefits

Because if and when something is going to be put on the ballot.

to inform a 2 year ballot strategy. There may be measures in 25

If we need a bond issue, let's get a bond issue, but don't let them pile all that other stuff on it.

rtd's ballot issue goes to the very bottom of the ballot

in June the RTD board referred a ballot measure to ask that the exemption of rtd's funding from uh the Taber cap

so the intergovernmental Affairs committee unanimously recommended we take a pro position on this

monies are, you know, the taxes are passed through to the business owners

They're paid for through property taxes from the property owners.

we will develop a ballot measure strategy for 2025 and 2026 and this effort will include

without a strategy for Revenue approaches and tax renewals particularly in the buildup back after the pandemic

figuring out a better financial strategy for the city

this program is funded through the climate tax, which is ballot measure 2 a

for our property taxes, and so they settle out of court, the court being public opinion and the battle

the insurance going up, the property tax going up, and the shared pulse thing

which is $300,000 from our client action tax increase

There's also the revenue from sales, tax, and property tax that's going to be increased into the general fund

With those sales tax with the property taxes, I mean

with the headwinds are basically being updated daily in the sense of at the Capitol today there was a special session

some headwinds which I'm sure you have all heard about in the news initiative 50 and initiative 108.

So the arts, culture and heritage tax that was passed to a funding collected on a citywide level.

I think we should be moving to a regime where we are charging for all the parking in all the public barking in this city

we are happy to support the alternate versions if that is the will of council

tonight we have ballot measures for Council consideration we have three Charter revisions brought forward from the June 20th Council discussion

I want to keep the original language and keep it as a citizen initiated ballot measure

We expect 2026, perhaps, to be that magic year to ask voters for additional funding for this project.

question of the ballot measure when we put it on in a few weeks but are people comfortable

we will be discussing next month putting um measures on the ballot and because this uh these two measures related to the airport

Council would then be faced with the decision about whether Council wants to put that on the ballot as a council measure

in 1967 Boulder became the 1st city in the nation to institute a dedicated sales tax to purchase open space lands

The permanent parks and Rec fund is property tax, which is seen as less regressive.

City council chose to initiate a 5 to 7 year Tranche for the 1st phase.

City Council and the City finance department are working on a long term financial strategy.

We haven't expressly, you know, gotten into a lot of detail about funding mechanisms

what we thought the you know, the property tax revenue implications could be

the incremental tax revenues to be most likely property tax, but also sales tax

That initiative 50. If it does get passed will reduce some of the property tax revenue projections.

The intent of it was to pledge property taxes to eventually purchase these assets to produce.

how we use the funds that we collect from product revenues as well as property tax.

and we may also consider another stormwater bond in 2028, although I'll mention that that's not currently modeled in our Fund financial

our financing strategies around capital projects will depend on the availability of cash market conditions and our financial position.

We also discussed our financial strategies with regards to reserves fund management and financing options.

The voters would have to approve the district to retain that 4% increase.

there is one specific property tax ballot initiative that we will be voting on this year, and it would put a 4% cap on revenue growth.

The only exception to this is, we do not currently have any debt. so we are debt free and community vitality.

and turn it into uh both gross and net change in uh property tax sales tax revenue

So hopefully, everybody had the opportunity to vote on this on the ballot measure one day last fall.

sales tax is not running at the same rate as our expenses

The 3rd stream is what you've mentioned around ballot measures. We hear the community, some asking for more.

and communicate that to the people, to the council, whoever, and to to get these ballot measures

so if we think about all three together are there any interactions or things that people are concerned about

if you still want to move forward with a ballot measure related to council pay this year

I think we highlighted the 3 bonds that were the most recent bonds that we we completed

There's an anticipated revenue bond section for the 2025.30 cp

anybody who steps foot on to into the City and pays or buys anything is paying taxes too

the decline and sales tax over time is really an issue that is affecting all

That's also a declining revenue source, because as cars get more fuel efficient.

we know that point 1 5 of the sales tax is going to sunset in 2029

the intent of the ballot measure and the overwhelming 75% support it received from voters

we were in full support of ballot measure 2A last fall

it talked about the January 2024 bond for 96 million dollars with

I think it's the citywide, you know, long term financial strategies place to be thinking about just funding for the city

For the long term. Financial strategy as a work plan item this year to start this year.

And then finally, we're gonna look at a 3 to 5 year ballot measure strategy. So a lot there.

I don't like the fact that we depend a lot on sales tax, and and we're in a position where sales tax is flattening and property taxes are flattening.

it is very good that you are considering putting on the ballot a measure seeking voter approval of paying councel

we're property tax based, and we're more enterprise because we have revenue generating business operations

we are worried, though, about the overall sales tax, as you can see, and was down significantly for the downtown overall

I looked at the Hill Street Mall. $634 in taxes they gained in January 2024, and I was like what

Asking to to have that renewed as a ballot measure and and also what happens when suddenly inflation goes

It's primarily made possible through our transportation fund, which is largely funded by the sales tax.

uncertainty uh for the future uh revenues of property tax and this is due to the the ballot measures

we are uh focused here on those that would directly impact uh city property tax revenue

I'm happy to be here tonight to present the 2024 potential ballot measures

So it's 20% of the gross assessed value of all the land.

Yeah, well, so the 33,000. That's a very small portion of your tax bill.

there have been effort as an effort to reduce individual property tax versus which then translates into reduced revenues for text districts.

I was thrilled when the ballot measure 2A passed with an overwhelming 75% majority of Boulder voters supporting the Arts

Citywide long-term Financial strategy um again this is work in progress but um primarily being supported through

the point to 5 cents sales tax fund is a special revenue fund, and this is funded by a voter.

it's time that we adjust the excise tax that funds EAS to catch up with the times

The ordinance has a rental license tax to support.

as part of maybe the long term financial strategy square up there or tangle up there

So the Financial Strategy Committee is going to be talking about a few proposals with regard to tax.

What seems to me that on the finance probably consolidate those separate items, they're all so part parcel of a financial strategy to raise revenue.

So I'm gonna start with a ballot measures

you also have a document with a link to the city of Boulder Sales tax revenue report

The passage of 2 a made sure that you have this 20 year tax renewal

question is at 2 and a half in no levy cuts, we will see deficits which would effectively only be about a hundred dollars

2023 was a very special year for property taxes, although Proposition HH.

The biggest unknown in all of this right now is a state ballot issue that is kind of a taber.

So permanent park and Rec fund is property tax base.

for parks and recreation, the benefit is this diversity of funding sources that we have property tax

So the revenue reports that central Finance publishes every month

the development of that long-term Financial strategy which is underway

that work has really highlighted the need for a larger Financial strategy as well

the city also conducted polling in June of 2023 in advance of a possible renewal of an expiring 0.15% general fund sales

especially when we think about our reliance on sales tax dollars for everything, especially funding transportation

and then sales tax receipts. Declined significantly between now and October, and we end up finding ourselves

in order to understand the, you know, revenues of all of our districts and what to set taxation at

the capital funding that we got with the renewal of the point 2 5 cent sales tax

I know where my tax dollars are going, cause I'm paying heavy. I just my property taxes went up 3,000 bucks.

different ways to get money to raise revenue other than just sales tax again

thank you for bringing up the implementation of the safe zones ballot measure which was talked about a lot in the Fallen past and um just wondering what the communication strategy

Boulders retail sales tax revenue for 2022 likely resulted from Heritage tourism

Is this an opportunity to say that to counsel like we need a a bond, or we need a bill, or we need money stream

if there were to be a downturn in sales tax collections how will that impact these projects

we're not necessarily anticipating um at this moment in time a bunch more bonding in the storm water and flood utility

but some, buzz about the possibility of a ballot measure.

It's just saying in the Denver Gazette that I just sent you property tax up 25%.

We have not gone after those loans because we just done better in the interest rates with bonds.

combined with the approval of the 2, a ballot item that's establishing a long term funding for the arts

that can be expedient in reducing, at least temporarily. the property tax obligation.

In anticipation of the 2, a sales tax. We want to be having some conversation with the community

the second policy was to ring fence savings or put like a virtual barrier around that savings

last May um we presented a long-term Financial strategy to help Implement these key initiatives

the amount of funding that the the property taxes are currently supporting and long term capital

Now that the 2 way past the new sales tax dedicated to arts and culture funding.

we'll all be weighing in on any of the more controversial ballot measures and things like that absolutely particularly those that are not fully addressed by our policy statement

that proposes ballot measures to the rest of council usually in the May time frame um and then then at that point it's elevated to a larger Council

you now deal with the true cost of 2A finally

I'm happy that HH failed I voted against it even though I'm a senior

taxes and property taxes are we applying the right priorities as we budget those revenues

ballot item 2A which is the city sales use and tax extension that really is about the extending the existing 0.15 City sales tax

how much more we going to have to go raise through a bond or um an appropriation from the general fund

the sales tax off. This is the keeper of that data. This is super easy.

December 2010 year to date, the hill had generated 1.1 5 million dollars in sales tax

is there a way to get the sales tax revenue from the district?

Higher level investment in that area versus city by sales tax. So that spread same level of services and across the entire city

there's a decent chance that their uh ballot measure uh I think it's is it uh is it 2B will be passed

there's also talk about a ballot measure or two that would uh bring Transit funding to to our state

I think that there will be a robust conversation around property tax um whether it passes or not

So on this election there is a ballot measure around a point 1 5 cent general fund tax

given that voting for 2A will not increase taxes at all and will certainly pay for itself in part

people trying to defeat ballot measure 2A the facts are simple

to create awareness of the tax extension and the facts no new taxes no Cuts in existing Services

our third item is a count discussion on supporting Boulder County ballot measure 1A open space sales and used tax extension and revenue change

which I wanted us to consider taking a position of support for this is a 05% sales tax

are there any innovations, or I don't know new thinking that we should offer that city council should be thinking about with respect to financial strategies

if 2A doesn't pass and our original extension ballot measure goes on the ballot in 2024

continuing work with the financial strategy committee and the development of a long-term Financial strategy

so think sales tax or property taxes coming in uh we have been able to make a lot of uh Investments

4,000 signatures bringing this ballot forward represent voters who understand the value of unapologetically supporting the arts

response to the 15.1 5 sales tax ballot question arts and culture events and programming benefit boulder.

we probably we may also want to do a resolution of support which would be the formal endorsement of the ballot measure

my understanding is you know this ballot measure is already written approved

it would not be appropriate for City stuff to take a position on a ballot measure

a perpetually temporary reduction every year seems disadvantageous to the district long term.

we would probably target a 2025 implementation date. Of course that would be so.

It's called proposition HH. That is going to be on the November ballot that will if it's passed

whether using Consul's capacity to prioritize or passing a ballot measure that specifies a very blanket form of prioritization

Specifically, as an alternative to this ballot measure, 300, and 2, which is called safe zone for for kids

So the ballot measure will be on the ballot for the election. On the first week of November.

if voters approve the ballot item related to the 0.15 in November that would dedicate half of the current general fund sales tax

there is a ballot initiative that is on the ballot in November called proposition HH which would reduce the the local Revenue

a group of residents brought forward a petition to put the question of the library district formation and a property tax to fund it to a vote

Reinvesting those funds in 2025 would actually result in a negative fund balance for you, jet by 2,027.

There's limited capacity to fund general improvements within with the district's property tax revenues, which amounts to significantly less than any boulders.

on valid in November that would dedicate 50% of that general fund tax to arts with the remaining 50 staying as a general fund revenue.

We also are budgeting for a degree of caution related to the expiring point 1 5 sales and use tax.

so to generate 14 million would be close to a point three percent increase for property tax um one mill based upon 2024 projections would generate

we could ask for a new tax or an increment of tax and really that is either a sales tax or a property tax so just wanted to share

the city could issue some general fund or general obligation bonds to finance the construction of the utility this path based upon current projections of the budget

so that the city clerk can certify the ballot to the county clerk by the deadline so that these ballot measures are on the voters ballot in November

on August 3rd Council took no action on three of those five ordinances and that was the safe zones the charter changes and the tax extension

Tax revenue for people who are no longer coming into boulder to work and and and spend some money.

there are two options that staff recommends Council consider moving forward the first would be to move forward with two conflicting tax extension measures

none of the ballot measures addressing the 0.15 sought that input or got that input

I request that Council support the single ballot initiative to extend the 0.15 sales tax extension for 20 years

However, according to the current budget, assumptions and use of those savings in 2,025, which I know we mentioned is a placeholder.

There is limited capacity to fund general improvements with you in property tax revenues which amount to significantly less

there's been a slight decrease in the protection for property tax

we'll have public hearing on on those ballot measures and then we'll make a decision

a ballot measure that would extend the 0.15 sales tax which otherwise would expire at the end of next year

and then the Ccs and Crs and the community culture, resilience and safety tax.

I think we are planning for late 2,024 bond for for South La Creek project.

the water and waste water bond that we're planning for later this year.

the alternative is the one we're required to put on because the petition was certified

we are weighing the politics of having two competing ballot measures going for the same amount of money

we have the potential for two competing ballot measures

But see, you is taking in the revenue and the cities lost our sales tax revenue out of that space.

The next period, began with the bond issue for the Municipal Building, which passed in 1,945

There was a legal case that election was, or the vote was challenged, and then, subsequent bond measure failed.

The picture is not great from a from a financial perspective.

I'm wondering if question this entire bond amount is premature for 2,024

And then at the very bottom we have a row for bond proceeds.

And one last comment on bonding it's due to the Enterprise Fund status and framework established under the State of Colorado.

we do have general funds. increasing the 0 point 2 5% sales tax is tight to increases in sales tax activity

the different ballot initiatives that will be on the ballot in November.

So we have received updated projections in the point 2 5 cent sales tax fund.

we're only testing the um 0.15 sales and use tax extension

going to the um potential ballot measure uh regarding the expiring 0.15 sales and use tax

Here's about how much we would expect in property taxes and sales taxes

The city of the City of Boulder needs sales tax revenue?

we're not profiting from the sales tax as as as much as we thought we would be

This sales tax we've known for a long time is the main source of funding for transportation projects

it created 10 percent of the tax revenues up to 10 percent of the tax revenues to fund a grant pool

this is a 0.3 dedicated sales and use tax primarily for infrastructure investment

I had asked at a previous meeting. If there's any information that Staff can provide around the height limitation. That was approved by voters

and tonight we'll provide a recap of some of the key aspects of that Master Plan and then we'll dive into the financial strategy we've developed

specifically around Financial strategy and as folks may recall facilities master plan was accepted by Council back in October 2021

or the increase in arts spending which would increase our budget exponentially.

So this bond measure that we passed, and this will relate to a question I ask of the applicant later

What was that ballot measure, maybe? What were the editorials that were written about it like?

But I would really love to have more information about what was the ballot measure that was passed by citizens?

this is just an update on the potential 2023 ballot measures for the state and the region

with our over Reliance on sales tax one of the concerns is from an equity perspective of who's who's paying the majority

sales, tax revenue for transportation. and a portion of that dedicated fund will expire in 2029

Aside from just mostly sales tax and outside grants.

then in November of 2019 there was a ballot initiative to fund the um to create a funding mechanism for the pilot program that was approved by voters

There's about 30 million dollars in, asks if met with the City Council's Financial Strategy Committee

have we identified any programs we wish to cut in order to provide an extra million dollars a year

based business has been on property and boulder, pay a much higher share of property tax than homeowners.

The property taxes assessed on each of those commercial buildings. We are getting a portion of it coming back to Parks recreation.

this fund is supported by voter approved sales tax funds.

our sales tax receipts have been up recently they um they could go down or you know we'll probably have additional revenues

about a longer term Financial strategy and so we think all of these policy issues are really elements of that

which we believe really aligns with the call for this long-term Financial strategy strategy and really supporting good healthy revenues

we have a very healthy bond. there's certainly opportunities for future capital campaign

Other than foot traffic through sales tax? Right? So sales tax, there will be accommodations tax

to provide the city the ability to actually issue debt and bond to capture additional revenues for bigger projects

and we also have to think about bonding. And and once you bond for a project

decisions last year during during the November ballot in an election time ballot measures 2 a and 2. B.

the ballot issue item is a separate item I believe

trying to figure out just not only the immediate but longer term what can we do our other big area is developing Financial strategy

to then positioning us to be able to do that long-term Financial strategy work

to be able to work on a long-term Financial strategy or a financial plan

What I think is what we're doing is we're issuing bonds.

So the city goes out and floats 10 million dollars worth of bonds.

the ballot initiative established like a a a bond essentially.

maybe it's been suggested that we could go through and take a look at how the city does it for the ballot measures

There's a lot of rules around what the front cover page looks like how the language is written.

because it was clear that they were opposed to to get a petition for a ballot issue.

Gun Barrel was for getting more sales tax revenue and we're not going to get that because the services can't keep up

we do receive funds for property taxes and those commercial linkage fees

the local excise taxes, property taxes that we that you all pay

I wonder if you could park you on that question about just about how hard from recreation is managing this financial strategy.

The Financial Strategy Committee is 3 members of Council.

Community culture, resilience and safety tax proof with 80% approval.

the amount that the funding would go down is much much smaller than the increase in our funding over what we had anticipated

there are other mechanisms like a a a general obligation bond that for like, if we're doing a citywide capital bond

We used to receive a sales tax report for the district with the district it's generating on a month monthly basis.

ballot issue 2A can concerned the climate tax which was a Tabor action that measured past

study session to discuss re allocation of funding that will be available because of the ballot measure that passed

I feel like this is a really excellent time to hear from you with the passing of the measure.

the bell language is favorable to us I mean it said do you want a better library for 3.

it ended up being sort of a bond, funded initiative to have these you know sort of learning landscapes

with the uh ballot items as they played out we'll be doing a special adjustment likely uh in early February

i'm just praying that something that some ballot measure can be put on for the open for the disposal of the of the open space for that project

essentially tax increment financing that you can use future property tax revenue to invest in in development projects

Anticipation of increases the well modest in property tax revenues.

there's an increase somehow levied on the property tax that kicks back into the um safety and cleanliness of the district

You know what 123 It's sticking it right back on the taxpayer, because it's a Tabor reimbursement that you get

I'll take this reminder to vote Yes on 2A for our climate tax and also the County ballot measure

including state state um ballot measures not individual races but ballot measures so um I'm I'm comfortable doing so

to endorse City ballot measures um they did endorse our climate tax which I was happy about but they did not endorse other City ballot measures

sales tax is not the nicest way to generate revenue for our city it really is a regressive tax

this is my money and I can't afford the rising sales tax you know

your finance department would probably inform you that you can't do it because it would affect our bond rating

the tax increase would be a you know relatively modest one at about four percent uh of property taxes

not presume those ballot measures pass so if they do pass we will bring something to you

I was really disappointed to see this put forward as a sales tax initiative

then the county has a 0.1 percent Transportation sales tax that they would like to extend

8A on tonight's agenda is the the 2022 County and Boulder Valley School District ballot measures

revenue sources and again i think it's clear that with our reliance on sales tax and our experience during covid

we have communities around us both in this state and across the country that have a a more healthy mix of property tax and sales tax

there's a 0.15 percent general fund sales tax that is currently not dedicated to any particular use

so that all the ballot measures will be finally adopted or finally considered and and potentially adopted on september 1st

this is kind of an extension of two taxes and combining them into one having about the same slightly lower for residents

why are you asking someone like me to pay for parks and recreation

with increasing property taxes like like skyrocketing when i have to spend every two years

these goals were developed leading up to the tax extension last year and so our committee built upon these goals

there's language that stated using up to 10 percent of the tax revenue to fund a grant pool for non-profit organizations

The funding largely comes from our sales tax and through grant funds

The funding for the tip as largely based on sales tax, like all of transportation funding

what's happening in the current year total sales tax revenues are expected to increase by almost 11

equations for bolder use tax and sales tax revenues and also property taxes as well

we're anticipating that to be closer to 0.5 percent year-over-year because of that reduction in residential assessment rates

based on what we decide may inform whether it is an added ballot measure

that we have municipal matters that is ballot measures on all of our batteries all of our ballots both odd and even

what are we interested in with the ballot measure because those are three related but not necessarily identical topics

we're not going to be able to do more for these priority populations without additional funding

they simultaneously passed an ongoing tax dedicated to supporting the operations of it

that takes away our tax dollars and then you come begging for a library district

maybe as i read the majority of city council that passed that resolution of needing something in the three range on the mill levy

would also include continued funding by the city through sales taxes

we've linked our transportation spending with our sales tax, which is reducing and the cost of construction is increasing

you see massive amounts of money pouring in in the form of sales tax to 29 street and commercial developments

a recent study says property owners in Colorado will get hit by a 20% property tax increases on average over the next four years

using a small property tax increase to create a funding district is more Equitable for all

overblown claims of huge tax increases which are in reality less than a primer and Netflix subscription

i don't like property taxes it's hard to suss that out in one in one fail swoop

our finances were great in 2019 and then covet hit and another occurrence like that

on the utilities bond issue for 2024 which is currently suggested being 91 million

there is also a provision in state law that allows people over 65 to defer their property taxes entirely

in November 2022 the voters within the service area of the library district will vote on a ballot measure to approve or not

which would have a process that could coincide with the creation of the district and the ballot measure um this November

i was intrigued by your uh proposed uh tax to support homelessness services

do we have any way of having a day shelter without having a tax because there's let's say there's

you see this more as a sales tax increase or real property tax increase

identifying the tax make as a mechanism for a ballot measure

ballot issue 2i which is the extension of the community culture resilience and safety and sales use tax

we may want to put something on the ballot we will work with with city staff and city attorney's office

the regional housing partnership is talked about putting a ballot measure on it was last year for other property tax or sales tax

ordinance 8506 establishing the 2021 city of boulder property tax mill levees which are to be collected

is it because it is property tax that we call it out differently than other neighborhood ecopasses

it's cleaner for us simply to endorse the ballot measures that we put on the ballot and leave it to the voters

i'm not um necessarily advocating for council to take a position one way or another on the three petitioned ballot measures

i would hope that at a minimum this council would pass resolutions endorsing the five ballot measures that we put on the ballot

anticipated for under ballot measures 2i and 2j specifically

if you look at sales tax property tax and other taxes they actually account for 77 of total city-wide revenue

that step up from 2021 represents about a 20 increase in property tax collections

the people have a voice which they will have with ballot measure 302 again

we could put a charter amendment up for a vote that disposed of the four acres

over 4 500 Boulder residents signed our petition putting let Boulder voters decide on CU South annexation on the November 2 ballot

one source of funding could be to dip into the infrastructure tax that we're about to present to the voters

by 2030 our annual funding need will be 10 and a half million dollars

businesses which we rely on to generate sales tax to do the work that we do

our city depends on sales tax revenue sales tax revenue, especially in our commercial areas

the arts commission was concerned to learn that the word culture has not been included in the new title

we'll make sure that we can cover those types of things i don't know right now exactly what that wording will be

it is a tabor requirement that we show the repayment amount on the ballot and we do try to be conservative

I can talk about the ballot measure, if you like, but that's kind of a separate issue.

Property taxes about quarter of our funding comes from local property tax

we are a very very high sales tax town we are a high property tax town

which is why the financial strategies committee um recommended the 10 percent

another ballot measure would be there we never said it would only be one

the bottom line is is that both of these ballot measures as we tested at 110 on the bond

uninformed support levels for the sales tax is at 73% for the additional Bond measure

finally financial strategy study committee it was launched in january of 2020 to provide guidance on financial strategies

the tax would just be we put on the ballot and if it's approved it flies

so we do the community survey really to gauge community support for a tax extension ballot item

recommend a tax structure so term and designated uses based on the community outreach results

is this actually going to generate revenue for us or is it simply going to be a sales tax boost

the staff evaluated several possible options for the collection of of this new rental tax

one of the challenges that this is going to face in 2022 will be a likely county ballot measure

a library district funded by property taxes achieves a level of stable and equitable funding for our libraries

if the city went with a municipal property tax option we anticipate that it would provide a very stable funding source

sales tax property tax increase and then the pandemic kids, so we are kind of read resurrecting that conversation

We were looking at doing was the potential for a ballot measure, there was attraction towards us going to the valid

they are almost 100% relying on sales tax so certainly these types of funds are far more volatile

the payment and low of taxes is a point of disagreement currently with the city staff and the university staff

we wanted to get the status of the um american rescue plan funding at that financial update

Massachusetts incarcerates less than half the number of people per capita as Colorado does and it's not a hellish place

we are gonna put a tax on the ballot for county-wide to support mental health resources in boulder county

because it wouldn't be a municipal property tax our charter limit on property taxes wouldn't apply

wouldn't we need a charter change because we're close to our charter limit on property taxes

restaurants spewing all that sales tax revenue generated by the development subsidies in the toilet

they got those subsidies based on the god of sales tax revenue

council seriously consider an even longer 15 or 20-year extension in order to put our capital expenditure program on a firmer footing

talking a little bit about this tax renewal and some of the projects that we're thinking about related to a possible renewal

it sounds like the committee will come back with maybe some specific projects that might be enumerated in the ballot

we could still call it no eviction without representation the the name of the ballot measure that would be

considering maybe a bond funding mechanism at some point in the future or are we thinking we'll be paying for it out of revenues

you will see an upcoming city council agenda item on february 9th the culture community culture and safety tax renewal

THE ASKING STAFF TO DO SOME OF THAT NEAR-TERM RESEARCH RELATED TO ALTERNATIVES TO SALES TAX QUESTIONS COMMENTS

LOOKING T WHAT ARERE THEHE WAYAYSS THATT Y FUNDS ITS REVENUES. THAT'S A A REALLY,Y, REALLYY BIG CONVERSATION

COMPETING BALLOT MEASURE. THE BALLOT MEASURE HASS BEEEENN SUBMITTEDD I ITT WILLL THEHEYY L NEXT FRIDAY

you don't know what people are going to put on the ballot

number five is obviously something that needs to go into the finance committee thinking about how we're going to look at funding

we do everything based on sales tax with a little bit of property tax and are there structural barriers

the capital tax renewal or the community culture safety tax uh and so that'll be coming forward

the impact of reduced sales tax revenue has on our ability to fund city services

in january when um the ballot measures really is supposed to be in effect uh which is was adopted through ordinance

so the implementation of the newer ballot measure so um there will be and i sent an email to everybody

because it's fee not a tax then we would be paying um a lot

we always go back to the ballot measure language it's stronger putting it in the code doesn't make it any stronger

I would ask that the council put that language that was in ballot measure 2D into this ordinance

the ballot measures were as follows Tob no eviction without representation passed uh with about a 59% approval

the process around the EXL franchise and utility occupation tax extension ballot measures had numerous apparent Charter violations

it's like a tax increase without permission of the voters so please slow this train down

we spent $100,000 and expel Excel spent $1 million and we barely won one of our ballot measures

I just anticipated that we might have some sense of the The important to C to D ballot initiatives which I think we do.

I wouldn't want a council member to to have to endorse a City ballot measure that he or she voted against

I believe that at um the CAC we discussed Council taking a position on the local the City ballot measures

the legislative subcommittee of city council has already looked at these and had some recommendations

the legislative uh Affairs governmental Affairs committee which consists of four of the nine council members had a recommendation

originally The Hope was to get some direction on what ballot measures you'd like to take a position on

the idea that 2C will help the city's financial situation is just not true

property tax is up as you recall the year 2020 was an assessment year and we saw a pretty big increase in assessments

if you look at sales tax property tax and other taxes um taxes do account for 80% of All City Revenue

our tax forecast while it is still negative it has improved over the last few months

by the way there are two there are two items on the ballot one is the franchise agreement and one is the utility occupation tax

since council put the franchise on the ballot last night

council last night did refer this to the ballot so um i think that's another important development

because it's a new tax you can rank the other four in any way that you want

consideration of a motion to approve the order of the city of Boulder ballot measures in the 2020 coordinated election

ITEM OR CAN I DO SEE IS A A AIRING ON THE X XL FRANCHISE AGREEMENT ALONG WITH BILLY OCCUPATION TAX.X.

creating a revenue Source an annual charge on rental units

is either the ballot measures that's on the table either the original one or um the alternative that is proposed

you cannot have a vote of counsel to rededicate it to something else so you have to start an entire new initiative

to consider not only a a franchise ballot measure but also a ballot measure that would under Taber allow us to repurpose the tax

and if Council decides a ballot measure so I want to begin with the touchstones of our municipalization project

the dedicated funds are dedicated by the voters and the ballot measures assessing the taxes

it shows their total sales tax forecast um over the years 2020 through 2025

that represents um the percentage of total sales and use tax that this category makes up

we a lot of this relates to the fact that we are an incommuter and tourism community

we're going to be coming up on some very significant budgetary shortfalls for every municipality

most property including residential and Commercial is assessed every two years

the summation of sales taxes Auto use taxes construction use taxes other use taxes and property taxes

I'll talk about the April sales tax numbers

it provides um the property tax um Revenue to be able to provide those amenities

when we look at other tax or other ballot items that could potentially be put on the ballot

we might need to or want to do like a a one-year pause on on on some dedicated funds

we don't have any other potential ballot items that staff is recommending this evening

let us postpone them and these ballot measures until 2021 when we can have a full public discussion and voting by an informed public

WE DID NOT DIRECT ANYBODY TO COLLECT SIGNATURES. THEY WERE COLLECTING SIGNATURES OF THEIR OWN ACCORD

THERE'S NO DEADLINE FOR CERTIFYING A BALLOT MEASURE UNTIL THE ACTUAL SUBMISSION DATE

ANY OTHER WAY IS FROM HOUSEHOLD TO PUT MEASURES ON THE BALLOT AND WHEN WE PUT MEASURES ON THE BALLOT

CONSIDERATION OF A MOTION TO APPOINT COUNCIL MEMBERS TO THE FINANCIAL STRATEGY

BOULDER VOTE COULD END THE MEDIA ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT NOW AND PERHAPS SAVE SOME LIVES.

in our modeling we are including a one percent decrease in property tax just to be conservative

as far as uh the city's budget property taxes represent 25 percent of general fund um Revenue so it's significant

because of this disaggregated structure local communities actually collect the majority of retail sales taxes within the state

consider not putting all three ballot measures to the people for a vote at the very least

THE LANGUAGE ITSELF THE QUESTION OF BALLOT MEASURE THIS IS JUST A QUESTION

THOUGH THE LEGAL REPRESENTATION FOR EVICTION THIS WOULD BE THE BALLOT MEASURE QUESTION.

I think this climate is so uh negative and antithetical to tax increases that it it's not really a practical uh proposal for now

we were over in sales and use tax in the general fund but we actually were under budget in uh property tax

will compound the effects of covid related shutdowns and we project further deflate our sales tax revenue

ORIGINAL ONE CENT SALES TAX THAT THE CITIZENS OF BOULDER PUT INTO PLACE IN NINETEEN SIXTY EIGHT

what if sales tax went down by two percent five percent ten percent

if it gets um on the ballot Council certainly could decide to weigh in on

the money is going to have to come from someplace yeah correct um and I suspect we'll issue bonds

the funding that was used initially through the bond or the 0.25 Cent sales tax

think that we need to be patient with ourselves and make sure that we're considering the whole big picture with the financial strategy

we're creating a degree of expectation in the community what we can and want to provide

when we asked a question about who's in favor of a property tax increase 16% or one out of six said they favored

what it would take for city funding either reducing it increasing sales tax increasing property tax at combination

if we put anything on the ballot that puts us up love 13 it would require

rather than we may not have the information by the time the the ballots come before us

if there is a formation of a library district and it has a taxing funding source that may free up money

the levels of sales tax they're considering are 0.6 and 1 cent so that is pretty significantly high amount

I think people are quick to talk about taxes and ballot measures and things that's where we're really

THE PROPOSED TAX STAFF IS RECOMMENDING THE COUNCIL IMPOSED AT THE FORTY PERCENT

a vehicle valuation tax VVT as they refer to it

then the financial strategy review is going to be coming forward then

refining the forecast funding models for discussions related uh or that could inform our 2020 ballot issues discussion in May

is going to talk about our long-term Financial strategy project

I have a question about the um Financial strategy subcommittee do you need um was it your desire

we will have a study session in May where council will get to discuss what ballot measures you want to consider

the food tax and us having sort of pledged and that being tied in to our rating

approximately sixty million dollars of debt outstanding has some sales tax tie through the year 2038 in two of our geo bonds

ballot issue 2 H sales and use tax extension passed and ballot issue 2 I middle income housing program passed

it would basically require the funds to repay the bonding to come from at the expense of other state priorities

in our in our case you know at the past Dr could choose and to refer a measure to the ballot

it's likely that we'd want to do something on the 2020 ballot and maybe that wouldn't be connected

is the 2020 ballot and we are part of a regional affordable housing strategy and we're in discussions with

I know the dollar value and I think that based on the polling they're leaning towards a property tax

council and Boulder County commissioners have agreed to place on the 2020 ballot a property tax measure that would raise approximately twenty million dollars countywide

REALLY SHOULDN'T BE SUPPORTING A BALLOT MEASURE FOR THE DIE AS SHE PASSED A RESOLUTION.

AT THE NOVEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND NINETEEN BALLOT ISSUE AUTHORIZED UNDER CITY OF OLD ORDINANCE EIGHT THREE FOUR SIX.

IF THE ZERO POINT ONE FIVE CENTS TAX EXTENSION IS APPROVED BY THE VOTERS.

BALLOT MEASURE THAT INCREASED FUNDING SOME OF WHICH COST THE GENERAL FUND

THAT WAS REALLY A ONE TIME BUDGET ADJUSTMENT DUE TO SOME ADDITIONAL SALES TAX REVENUE

PURSUE THESE IDENTIFIED MECHANISMS FOR POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION OR A BALLOT INITIATIVE IN TWENTY TWENTY

our citywide property taxes are actually just increasing at a lower rate than the rest of the county at ten percent

what it shows is the difference between raw taxable sales and purchases shown in blue and an inflation-adjusted number shown in green

the reliance or importance of sales and use tax and property tax increases we take these out to demonstrate kind of our revenue sources

TO CLARIFY THE BALLOT TITLE THAT DEADWOOD TOBACCO SALES TAX ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS

MOVE FORWARD WITH THE TWENTY YEAR TAX EXTENSION AND UM AND ALSO CONSIDER

WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO PASS IT ON THIRD READING WITHOUT CHANGES

BUT THE ORDINANCE WAS TO THE BALLOT MEASURE WILL SAY JANUARY JUST HAVE THE AUTHORITY.

YOU HAVE THREE ORDINANCES BEFORE YOU ORDINANCES EIGHT THREE FOUR ONE EIGHT THREE FOUR TWO WHICH ARE TAX ORDINANCES PLACE ABOUT THE MEASURE ON THE BALLOT.

SO THE DPP SALES TAX ON THE UNDERLYING PRODUCT AND YOU PAY SALES TAX ON THE FORTY PERCENT EXCISE TAX IS THAT RIGHT.

extending the point 1 5 cent sales tax and having the whole of the revenue for one year go towards the conservation easement

what you're approving tonight is these documents in substantially the same form

ballot measure that we should effectively pay through the city we can give loans for permanently affordable housing

it's a Tabor taxpayer Bill of Rights requirement that says anytime there's a multi-year obligation by a jurisdiction

so we're moving forward with the potential ballot measure inline ballot measure this fall that would enable that

LOW DOES GOOD CHANCE I GUESS OF PASSAGE WE PUT ON BALLOTS

SO WE WOULDN'T HAVE OF H A HEARING ON BALLOT MEASURES COMING UP

UNCLEAR WHETHER A LOOK LAKE. THOM A SALES TAX OR PROPERTY TAX INCREASE BUT THE GOAL IS TO SECURE TWELVE PERCENT

MOST COMPLEX PART OF A CITY BALLOT MEASURE THE OTHER THINGS RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD

THE BALLOT MEASURE THE COUNTY TAX PROCEEDS AS WELL

THE LANGUAGE TO IN THE BALLOT MEASURE IS BROAD ENOUGH IN MY VIEW FOR THIS

these are regressive taxes the property taxes thus driving people up out you know

do you want us to pull on putting a question on the ballot for a sales tax increase

when you're considering financing decisions for these priorities to make sure that you're considering the fair balance always tempting to tax the other guy

so we can talk about it when we there's a meeting devoted to ballot measures yeah we should talk about it

since you all have to go silent if we put it on the ballot relatively soon thereafter

note that there's a good chance when I put this on the ballot and so anyhow

current level of funding as it relates to the expected sales tax explorations and that does account

you need to refer a 2019 ballot to the voters

we got to do our annual budget and we have to put the ballot together

we get most of our funding from sales tax revenue about two-thirds

16 million dollars in the community cultural and safety tax and 8.1 million of that is bond proceeds for fire station three

one third of our overall budget comes from retail sales

if you take the our overall budget of three hundred and some-odd million divided by one hundred eight thousand people

we would essentially borrow the money to do the renovation just like your house has a mortgage

POINT OUT THE SALES TAX IS MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE IN PROPERTY TAXES RATES

AT AN ADDITIONAL PROPERTY TAX FOR THE DEDICATION OF EXISTING REVENUES SUCH AS SALES TAX OR PROPERTY TAXES

THE PETITION ALSO REQUESTS THAT THE COUNTY PUT ON A BALLOT MEASURE TO ESTABLISH A LIBRARY DISTRICT AND APPROVE A TAX INCREASE

PROPERTY TAX VS SALES TAX ALL RESPONDENTS WERE ASKED IF TAXES DO INCREASE TO ENHANCE LIVES

A PROPERTY TAX INCREASE COULD BE CONSIDERED FOR RESIDENTIAL AND LOCAL BUSINESS PROPERTY OWNERS

WE ARE NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THE BALLOT MEASURE OR LEGALITIES ABOUT THE BALLOT MEASURE

WE ARE COLLECTING JUST RIGHT UNDER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR FROM THE MARIJUANA INDUSTRY

THEY HAD FAITH IN OUR VISION AND PLACE THE MUSEUM ON THAT TO A BALLOT INITIATIVE THAT PROVIDED SUPPORT FOR THE MUSEUM

so you're talking through the 2018 budget process how assessment values were you know a lot higher than what we had projected

we do get some online sales taxes I don't want anybody to walk away thinking we get none of it

again these are all planned shifts that were approved by the voters in the ballot language

but as you can see it's more than offset by the accommodations tax

although it increases in things like the mill levy that there was a seventeen percent last year

the property taxes to the general fund as well as the mill levy which is applied in addition to that

education of the citizens about the long term funding for the libraries maintenance

ballot measure question okay so we'll talk about it as an idea and see where you're on that one

WHAT OUR TAX USE AND SALES TAXES ARE DOING THIS YEAR WERE UP THREE POINT TWO PERCENT

OUR TOTAL SALES TAX REVENUE COLLECTION IS ACTUALLY SUBSTANTIALLY UP

something that's important to note on all of these scenarios they do require a vote and some of them do require a charter change

it's sustainable you don't have to keep going back out to voters for different pieces of what you want to achieve

if we put it on the ballot and our residents wanted it would pass

that'll require you know a percent and a half sales tax you know and then we can do that

we have already folded in what was previously or language about supporting a standalone ballot measure

the transportation funding ballot measure we we combined that with another one right

WE ALSO ON TRANSPORTATION MEASURES WE VOTED AS A COUNCIL TO OPPOSE

SO THESE BALLOT MEASURES SHOULD INFLUENCE THE OUTCOME

AND JUST TO REMIND FOLKS OF THE POSITIONS THAT THIS COUNCIL HAS TAKEN ON A STATEWIDE AND LOCAL MATE MAY BALLOT MEASURES

SO THE FINANCING IS KIND OF DEPENDENT ON GOING AND NOVEMBER TWENTY TWENTY

TO ALLOW FOR INFORMED DISCUSSION BEFORE THE NOVEMBER TWENTY TWENTY BALLOT

UNTIL AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTIONS TO COME SEE HOW WHETHER TRANSPORTATION BALLOT MEASURES ARE GETTING PAST HIM

that we aren't even seeing sales tax growth that reflects inflation

we are projecting a 1% increase in 2019 another 1% off of that number

I know since I've been here which is around six years it's been triple-a

LAFAYETTE IS BRING FORWARD A VERY SIMILAR MEASURE I THINK IN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.

AND SO FOR CONTEXT OIL AND GAS DEVELOPERS ARE CURRENTLY SUBJECT TO A NUMBER OF GENERAL LOCAL SALES TAXES.

ASKING FOR SOME CORRECTIONS AND I WONDERED HOW THOSE ARE BEING ADDRESSED BY THE CITY CLERK.

I ALSO WANTED TO SPEAK TO THE AMC OPPOSE JUST REPLACE OIL AND GAS TAX.

JUST TO CLARIFY WE'RE DEALING WITH THE PROPOSED BALLOT MEASURES THAT THAT NIGHT.

CAN WE MAKE AN ADJUSTMENT TO THE PROPERTY TAX LEVY THAT WE HAVE NOW

WE WERE HOPING TO HAVE A FULL FULL AND MORE ROBUST ANALYSIS OF THE ACTUAL COST PER HOUSEHOLD

I'M KIND OF DISAPPOINTED WE'RE NOT GOING FORWARD WITH THIS YOU CAN SEE I THINK EVERYTHING'S LINED UP TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL ELECTION.

WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IS A ONE TIME ALLOWANCE TO GO OVER THE ESTIMATE IS THAT CORRECT

IT'S VITAL TO GET INFORMATION OUT TO THE VOTERS THE MONEY COLLECTED IN TO THE HEALTH EQUITY FUND

THE PROPOSED BALLOT ISSUE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA TO RETAIN REVENUES ALREADY COLLECTED IN EXCESS

sales tax being such an important revenue engine for the city and providing for the services that

the two options currently available to us are property tax and sales tax

we need to pursue potential ballot initiatives that would be looking at increasing sales and property taxes to support the goals

at the end of the day that money has to come from somewhere

ALSO NOTE THAT THIS IS KIND OF A NOTE TO OURSELVES THAT THERE'S ANOTHER SEVERAL OTHER BALLOT MEASURES

IT'S ON ANOTHER BALLOT MEASURE JUST SUMMERTIME CORRECTIONS IF I CAN JUST MAKE SURE

HEALTHY KIDS COALITION SUPPORTED BALLOT MEASURE ORDINANCE EIGHTY TO SIXTY SEVEN AUTHORIZING

IF WE TOLD YOU TO GO AHEAD AND DO THIS NO WAY THAT DIDN'T REQUIRE BALLOT MEASURE

AGAIN THIS WOULD REQUIRE VOTER APPROVAL AND TO GO ON THE BALLOT THIS NOVEMBER

WE WOULD ISSUE A BOND WHICH DOES REQUIRE VOTER APPROVAL ON WITH TABOR

THESE BONDS ARE TO CONSTRUCT THE CARTER LAKE PIPELINE AND SO THERE FOR SAFETY AND WATER QUALITY

the table requires voter approval for any multi year fiscal obligation

we would need general obligation bonds to start out right we wouldn't have an enterprise and revenue to bond against

tax revenue generation rates again property tax one mill is about 3.6 million

one of the things that we've talked about is those other needs could be addressed through property tax perhaps but that was different than your question

if you take sales and property tax that's almost 75 percent of our budget and in times of bad economic times even property tax stagnate

which would result in in either a sales tax increase or a property tax increase

we have to cover those capital costs upfront and as we've talked before we have to have a revenue source for that

bring that forward to council here for a June public hearing where we would make a decision on whether to proceed with a ballot item

so the idea of property taxes raising property taxes is seems like a sort of politically infeasible direction

I'm wary of continuing to increase our sales taxes it is a regressive tax

some of our property taxes that we assess are go to the general fund correct so would it be conceivable

in ballot measure 2l it's a little bit it's a little scary because there's no we're gonna raise taxes by 4 million

it would be bonded it can only be done if we have a source of revenue

whether they'll will try it again for 2018 either through the legislature just go ahead and do a initiated measure

whether it's statewide funding ballot measures to these arterial bus rapid transit projects

20 million annual profit pay off the true build and a 2 percent boundary a 30-year bond

if we in a property tax increase if we decided not to do a credit

for us to come out with an operate an operating budget increase of 6.6%

with the sales tax extension were requesting an additional 1.5 for a total of 2.8 million dollars

the capital sales tax extension is proposing 1.5 for a total of 2.8

as we know and as we've seen in the capital tax renewal discussions there's critical infrastructure

we could have have an election about a bond issue that just said shall we issue bonds

impose an additional requirement beyond the table requirement that we go to the voters to issue debt

I asked question that we had in front of us was recommendations on the capital improvement sales and use tax renewals

the council will be considering input from various advisory boards that have offered support for the renewal

a little bit about the community culture and safety taxed and potential capital tax renewal

every revenue bond issued will have to go to a vote so now where that is

wind up with a tax increase and I'm just guessing now of something like 11 or 12 percent

there are some things that you might want to consider for the ballot this year and I'll talk about them

THAT THE SUGARY BEVERAGE TAX HEALTH INTERVENTION AND TREATMENT PROGRAMS

IN TWO THOUSAND I MET THE BALLOT INITIATIVE THE POINT ONE FIVE DEDICATED SALES TAX THAT FUNDED THE HUMAN SERVICES FUND

And we had measure 302 term limits for council members. 31,951 voted in favor. 21,961 were opposed.

We had 2 H, the product distribution tax on sugar sweetened beverages.

the majority of our funding comes through the transportation fund which is largely comprised of uh City sales tax