Northglenn to Consider Intergovernmental Agreement with Adams County for Graffiti Patrols

Sarah Borgers, the city’s Graffiti Management lead in Public Works, told the City Council on March 17 that staff is seeking authority to place an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Adams County on an upcoming agenda to provide proactive graffiti patrols in Northglenn.

Borgers said the county already patrols unincorporated Adams County and partner municipalities and that adding Northglenn would be efficient because crews already “drive through Northglenn in order to reach other parts of unincorporated Adams County and other partner municipalities.” The IGA as presented would fund 40 patrol hours per month for the first two months and 20 hours per month after that; Adams County’s standard operating window is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, with a five-business-day response time stated in the IGA.

The IGA would be billed monthly at $36.75 per hour with a 5 percent annual increase. Borgers said the 2025 estimated cost for the April–October initial season is about $6,600; staff and Adams County told council the program’s hourly needs typically decline after an initial sweep and that a worst-case 12‑month cost would be higher (staff estimated a rough maximum around $10,360 if all hours were used). Adams County staff said additional services, such as research to support police prosecutions, would be charged separately.

Adams County representatives told council the county requires a waiver from private-property owners before painting on private surfaces and that it does not have a contractual obligation to exactly match paint colors, although staff said matching is a priority to discourage repeat tagging. Adams County staff said the program maintains a live online dashboard that shows cleanups and partner participation; Borgers displayed a county dashboard screenshot showing participating jurisdictions.

Adams County staff described the practical scope of what their crews can remove: “We can get anything except we don't go up on roofs,” one county presenter said, listing spray paint, chemical treatments, power washing and roll‑on paint as tools commonly used and noting they already work with utility companies and dumpster providers to secure matching paint at no cost to the county.

Council members asked about limits of remediation (types of surfaces), color matching, how the city would continue to handle requests if the county was unavailable, and whether the IGA saves staff time or money. Borgers said the city would continue to receive resident reports through the existing CRM system and would forward those reports to Adams County; staff expect to recover some staff time (an estimated half full‑time equivalent from sanitation duties) but were not prepared to claim an immediate net budget savings. Adams County representatives said regional operations reduce per‑cleanup cost by economies of scale, citing cleanup-costs falling to roughly $11–$15 per cleanup in regional arrangements compared with higher per‑cleanup costs when cities self‑perform.

Council consensus was to have staff place the IGA on the next council agenda for formal consideration. Borgers said staff would report back to council a few months after implementation with performance data; council members asked for a short interim report showing hours used, number of cleanups and any issues arising from the pilot period.

Provenance (selected transcript evidence): "Good evening, mayor and council ... we're here to talk about graffiti management tonight," (Sarah Borgers). "They're wanting to take a regional approach ... they're actually already driving through Northglenn ..." (Borgers). "We can get anything except we don't go up on roofs," (Adams County staff). "If council would like us to move forward with this IGA, we can have that on the council agenda for next Monday," (Borgers).