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Boulder staff preview 2026 tax ballot options; council narrows items for further analysis
Summary
City finance staff presented a range of potential 2026 ballot options—transformational, mid‑range and structural—and Council asked staff to focus further analysis on a public‑realm mill levy or expansion of uses, a residential vacancy excise tax, general‑fund debt authorization, and consolidation of certain dedicated sales taxes for later polling and refinement.
City finance staff on Thursday gave an early preview of potential 2026 tax ballot measures and asked Council which broad categories they wanted staff to refine for public polling.
"68% of Boulder's revenues are dedicated," Krista Morrison, the city's chief financial officer, told the study session, explaining why staff are exploring a range of options to increase revenue flexibility and address a growing backlog of capital and operating needs. Morrison and Principal Budget Analyst Scott Carpenter presented a spectrum of potential options grouped as transformational (for example, taxing services or swapping some sales tax to property tax), mid‑range (a general-purpose mill levy, a public‑realm mill levy or a residential vacancy excise), and structural (general fund debt authorization, raising the mill levy cap, or combining certain dedicated sales tax increments).
Staff said sales and use tax currently represents about 35% of city revenues, utility revenue about 19%, and property tax roughly 12%; they noted property tax growth has slowed markedly in recent reassessments.
Carpenter described revenue estimates for several options: a general-purpose property tax increase of 1.352 mills could yield roughly $7 million per year beginning in 2028; a residential vacancy excise targeted at properties vacant at least 183 days was estimated to affect roughly 500–1,000 properties and could raise $1–2 million annually at a $1,000–$2,000 flat tax per property; staff also previewed a potential general fund debt authorization in the $75–$100 million range to finance capital needs without raising taxes immediately.
Councilmembers asked how changes would affect equity and specific populations (for example, older homeowners who are house‑rich and cash‑poor), whether polling would include potential state or county measures on the same ballot, and how debt service would be modeled at varying interest rates. Several councilmembers favored moving forward with more detailed analysis on the public‑realm mill levy/expanded use (including smaller levy options), the residential vacancy excise (including higher-rate scenarios), a general‑fund debt authorization, and an option to combine certain dedicated sales taxes to gain more flexible capital funding.
Staff noted capacity limits and said they will bring refined proposals and polling recommendations to Council in April and May for further direction before any measures are finalized for ballot referral.
