The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners on Aug. 28 revised the county's proposed mental and behavioral health sales-tax referral before re-referring it to the November 2025 ballot.

Deputy Natalie Springett told commissioners staff had been asked to consider reconsideration after public and board concerns about timing, specificity and the degree of detail in the originally proposed language. Commissioner Levy had requested more time to review whether a long-term (perpetual) or multi-decade funding commitment was appropriate amid federal and state fiscal uncertainty; she also raised concerns that paragraph 17 of the proposed resolution appeared to prescribe program evaluation and staffing in ways that might require additional spending.

After weeks of discussion with staff, community groups and the county's Benefits Advisory Board, commissioners agreed to a package of amendments. The changes approved by the board: shorten the proposed tax term from five years to three years; remove fixed percentage allocations in Section 15 and instead list eligible funding categories without preset shares; strike the prescriptive language in Sections F and G and remove Sections 16 and 17 (which specified advisory council structure and an evaluation procurement); and revise paragraph 13 to remove a phrase that referenced review in its sole discretion "at least every 3 years with the advice of an advisory council." The result is that the ballot language will describe goals and eligible uses but will leave allocation priorities and advisory structures for later work by staff and the board.

Commissioner Stoltzmann moved the package of amendments and the motion carried by voice vote. Commissioners repeatedly emphasized that the changes do not cancel the board's intention to pursue money for mental-health services; instead, supporters said the revisions were intended to create more flexible, implementable language and to allow the board and staff to set priorities and evaluation approaches after further outreach. "I would support bringing back similar language in a policy or procedure option with recommendations from staff to identify [a lead] staff person who can complete similar work as the paragraph describes," Commissioner Levy said.

The board also debated whether to explicitly list "unhoused individuals" and "older adults" in the ballot summary; Commissioner Levy successfully argued that "unhoused individuals" should remain listed because addressing the needs of unhoused residents is a core part of the county's mental-health work. Commissioners agreed to keep that reference.

Board members and staff said the three-year option would allow the county and community partners to use the initial funds as a stopgap to meet urgent needs while the county completes a longer-term strategy and evaluation process should voters approve the measure.

The amended referral (Resolutions 2025-038 and 2025-039) will appear on the Nov. 2025 ballot for voter consideration.