City staff outline Downtown Development Authority to finance long‑term downtown reinvestment; council presses on governance, parking and equity

City staff on Thursday presented initial analysis of a potential Downtown Development Authority (DDA) that would capture growth in property and sales tax within a defined boundary and use that revenue to finance long-term, district-scale investments.

"At its core, a DDA is an economic development tool designed specifically for central business districts," Economic Development Strategy Manager Reegan Brown told the Boulder City Council during a study-session presentation. Brown described tax‑increment financing (TIF) as the mechanism by which a DDA would capture new growth in property and sales tax within the district and reinvest that increment back into the downtown area.

Staff outlined three principal revenue sources a DDA could use: the property/sales‑tax TIF, a voter‑approved mill levy for stable annual funding, and other revenues—most notably downtown parking assets. Brown said a conservative scenario with 1% annual growth would produce roughly $300,000 in TIF revenue in year one; adding a mill levy could raise the total to about $2.1 million that first year. Including parking revenue, she said, nearly doubles the district's borrowing capacity.

Assistant City Manager Mark Wolf said the city already owns significant downtown parcels and parking assets and that staff are evaluating whether and how those assets might be transitioned into a DDA structure. "We have a tremendous amount of leverage as a city, given that we own a lot of the land and buildings," he said, and added that proposals on partnership and financing would be defined during a later request‑for‑proposals phase.

Councilmembers pressed staff on several governance and fiscal issues. Councilmember Tina Marquis asked whether a DDA would take over maintenance or operations in civic spaces and whether increment would flow to private partners who invest; Brown and Wolf said those details are still to be worked out in the plan of development and in any intergovernmental agreements. Councilmember Mark Wallach sought assurance that Council oversight would remain strong if the DDA were a standalone entity; Brown said Council would retain significant oversight, including approving the plan of development, the annual budget and any borrowing.

Brad Siegel of Progressive Urban Management Associates, a consulting firm advising the city's analysis, told Council that a ballot to form a DDA would likely ask several separate questions of electors within the proposed district — for example, whether to create the DDA, whether to authorize use of TIF, and whether to authorize a mill levy. "There would likely be three or four questions," Siegel said, including separate authorization to collect tax increment.

City Attorney Teresa Taylor Tate said a DDA would be a separate legal entity and would assume its own liabilities. "As a separate legal entity, the DDA would have their own legal representation ... it assumes its own liabilities," she said.

Several councilmembers raised broader concerns. Councilmember Taishya Adams pressed staff to incorporate climate and nature considerations into the financial modeling and plan of development, saying those factors should be a first‑order part of analysis. Others asked about the effect of property‑tax TIF on overlapping taxing entities such as Boulder County and Boulder Valley School District; Brown said she planned to propose fiscal safeguards and revenue‑sharing parameters as staff refine options.

Staff said the planning group that informed the work includes downtown business leaders, property owners and community members and that staff intend to return with a draft plan of development in June and, if directed, a referral to the November ballot for qualified electors within any proposed district.

No formal vote was taken during the study session; Council provided direction that staff continue refining the model, analysis and engagement materials.