City Council - Regular Meeting

Elesha Johnson, City Clerk: All right. Elesha Johnson, City Clerk: Ta-da! Tara Winer: Okay, good evening, and welcome to tonight's study session of the Boulder City Council. It is Thursday, March 12th. I am Mayor Pro Tem Tara Weiner. Thank you so much for joining us. We have 3 items on tonight's agenda. First, Councilmember Wallach will present the Boulder Strong Day of Remembrance. Tara Winer: It's a declaration so that we may honor those who were lost during the March 22nd, 2021 mass shooting at King Soopers. He will also provide us with information regarding the remembrance gathering the city has scheduled. Tara Winer: Our second item is the Downtown Development Authority, the DDA, Tara Winer: formation, analysis, and initial recommendations. And lastly, we have a preliminary discussion on 2026 ballot measures. Tara Winer: Councilmember Wallach will now present the Boulder Strong Day of Remembrance Declaration. Mark Wallach: Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. This is the declaration of the Boulder Day of Remembrance, dated March 22nd. Mark Wallach: 2026. Mark Wallach: March 22nd, 2021, It's a date that will be forever seared in the collective memory of our community. Mark Wallach: On that Monday afternoon, a grievous atrocity was committed. Mark Wallach: That will mark each of us for the rest of our lives. Mark Wallach: But none more so than the families and friends of the 10 people taken from us suddenly and violently. Mark Wallach: People going about their daily lives, doing their jobs. Mark Wallach: Feeding their families, protecting one another. Mark Wallach: Our entire community joins those families and friends in saying the names of our neighbors. Mark Wallach: Taken from us before their time. Mark Wallach: Denny Stong. Mark Wallach: Nevin Stanasek. Mark Wallach: Ricky Olds. Mark Wallach: Perlona Barkawiak. Mark Wallach: Suzanne Fountain.

Mark Wallach: Terry Leiker. Mark Wallach: Kevin Maloney. Mark Wallach: Lynn Murray. Mark Wallach: Jody Waters. Mark Wallach: And Officer Eric Talley. Mark Wallach: It has been said that there were 3 deaths. Mark Wallach: The first is when the body ceases to function. Mark Wallach: The second is when the body is returned to the earth. Mark Wallach: And the third is that moment, sometime in the future. Mark Wallach: When the person's name is spoken for the very last time. Mark Wallach: Let us never allow this third death of our ten fallen neighbors. Mark Wallach: Let us take the time to speak their names, celebrate their lives, Mourn their passing. Mark Wallach: As long as we remember them, They will never truly die. Mark Wallach: And so is our modest and humble gesture. Mark Wallach: The City Council of the City of Boulder. Mark Wallach: Declares that every year, in perpetuity. Mark Wallach: March 22nd shall be designated the Boulder Day of Remembrance. Mark Wallach: On that day, every year, our community will pause and remember the 10 people who departed. Mark Wallach: On that day, every year, we will celebrate their lives. Mark Wallach: And on that day, every year, we will say their names out loud, so that in our hearts, they will live on. Mark Wallach: Signed, Aaron Brockett, Mayor. Mark Wallach: Thank you. Mark Wallach: And, just, Mark Wallach: So people will know, there will be a Day of Remembrance ceremony at the Boulder Museum on Sunday, 3.22, from 3.30 to 4.30. Mark Wallach: All are welcome. Thank you. Tara Winer: Thank you so much, Mark. Now, before we go into our work items, I'd like to outline how the meeting will be conducted. Tara Winer: We will review the staff's presentations, and then we will have time for questions.

Tara Winer: At the end of the presentation, we will conduct our council discussion with staff. If you have questions, please wait for staff to complete their presentation. We will now turn to our City Manager, Nuria Rivera Vandermeide, to introduce our first items. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Thanks so much, Mayor Pro Tem. Appreciate this item very much coming forward. This has a long history of Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): your alls, sharing with us, your intention to make connections between the University and our downtown stronger. And I am going to pass it to our Assistant City Manager, Mark Wolf, but before I do, I just want to lift up Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): that we had a huge amount of partnership in this, and we had 18 folks in our planning group from so many different places, cross-sections of our business community, and just want to thank them for the time and the effort they have put into this. I know some of them are here with us today, but just wanted to lift that up. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Mark, with that, I pass it on to you. Mark Woulf: Thank you, Nuria. Good evening, Council. I'm Mark Wolf, Assistant City Manager. I'm super excited to be introducing our discussion on the Downtown Development Authority this evening. Mark Woulf: Over the past year and a half, in alignment with the 2024-2025 Council Priority on Economic Development. Mark Woulf: The City, through our new Office of Cultural and Economic Development, has been focused on exploring and implementing new economic development and business support tools that are intended to help bolster our local economy and improve our overall resilience. Mark Woulf: Tonight, we're looking at a generational opportunity to modernize how we invest in the heartbeat of our city. Mark Woulf: This comes as we are currently engaging our community in a vital conversation through the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan about who we want to be for the next 20 years as a city.

Mark Woulf: During that process, we have heard a lot about the importance of our small businesses and our commercial spaces. Mark Woulf: In that same spirit, the proposal for a Downtown Development Authority allows us to think about the future of the downtown for the next 30 years and beyond. Mark Woulf: Our downtown core, from Pearl Street to University Hill and beyond, is our primary economic engine, yet it relies on tools established over 50 years ago, primarily to manage parking. Mark Woulf: While those districts have served us well, we are now facing a critical moment marked by acute commercial vacancies and flattening revenues. Mark Woulf: The opportunity and need to proactively cultivate, attract, and incentivize investment in our broader downtown is here. Mark Woulf: To be fair, there are several different ways and approaches to these challenges, but as you'll hear tonight from our Economic Development Strategy Manager, Regan Brown, our project consultants, Puma, a DDA offers one of the more powerful, flexible tools in our toolbox. Mark Woulf: Unlike our current model, it can capture and reinvest growth to attract the type of transformational capitalistic projects that our existing structure simply cannot. Mark Woulf: Lastly, I just want to also recognize our planning group. You'll hear a little bit of their work tonight. A really impressive mix of our downtown businesses, community members, and partners, and just appreciate the time and effort they have put in thus far, and depending on the feedback tonight, likely hours ahead. Mark Woulf: So with that, I am excited to hand it off, to Regan for our presentation. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Thank you, Mark. Good evening, Council. My name's Regan Brown, Economic Development Strategy Manager within the new Office of Cultural and Economic Development. I think both Nuria and Mark framed this conversation really well, so we can just dive right in.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We can go right into the next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So I'll be covering several key parts of this work tonight. First, why we're exploring a DDA and the background and process that led us to this discussion tonight. Second, what a DDA could do in practice, including what the plan of development is, and a few examples from other communities. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Third, how a DDA could fund reinvestment, including the potential revenue sources. And finally, I'll cover a few policy questions where we're looking for Council's direction before outlining next steps. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So this is one of the core questions behind this effort. Why are we exploring a DDA? We can go right to the next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: First, what is a DDA? At its core, a DDA is an economic development tool designed specifically for central business districts within a defined boundary. What makes a DDA unique is something called tax increment financing, or TIF is how I'll refer to it throughout the presentation. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Rather than raising new taxes, a DDA captures future growth in property and sales tax revenue generated within the district and reinvests that growth back into the area. Its purpose is to support larger capital investments, transformative projects, and long-term improvements that strengthen the district. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Because TIF revenue grows over time, a DDA can borrow against that future revenue, allowing it to really fund larger-scale projects earlier than would otherwise be possible. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, why a DDA in Boulder? This conversation builds on previous discussions that we've brought to Council in the past, including findings on the improvement district analysis effort that we completed last year. That analysis really prompted a broader question, are we using the right tools to support sustained reinvestment in our central business area? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: As part of that work, we looked closely at existing conditions downtown and on the hill. What we found is that in parts of those districts, we're seeing stagnation, and in some cases, erosion in economic activity since the pandemic, particularly when sales tax and property values are adjusted for inflation. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: At the same time, as Mark alluded to, we're facing new pressures, changing retail patterns, commercial vacancy, and aging infrastructure. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Our existing districts, primarily the University Hill General Improvement District, UGID, and the Central Area General Improvement District, KJID, remain important tools, but they were established over 50 years ago, and they were really designed to support parking infrastructure and maintenance at the time that they were established. They weren't originally created to drive economic growth or district-wide reinvestment. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So the question that we're exploring is whether Boulder needs a new tool focused on long-term reinvestment and boosting economic vitality. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This geography shown here represents a study area for analysis. It's not a finalized district boundary. We intentionally cast a fairly wide net so that we can evaluate different scenarios and understand potential impacts before anything is decided.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The areas included here were identified based on previous plans and studies, staff analysis, and community input, particularly from the planning group, which I'll talk more about in a moment. These areas were selected because they are economically connected to downtown in the Hill. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And it makes sense to study them together when thinking about the future of a potential district. So right now, as you can see, the study area includes the existing districts, KGID, UGID, the Business Improvement District, ORPID, as well as the Civic area, and the connection between downtown and the Hill. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: There are also additional areas here under broader consideration. They're outlined in the light gray color, such as East Pearl and areas north along Broadway. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Before any of these areas would be incorporated, we'd conduct direct outreach to the property owners and businesses within those areas to understand their interest in participating in this district. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And importantly, no boundaries are finalized until City Council considers an ordinance and potentially refers the DDA to the ballot. So again, what you're seeing here is a study area to help inform analysis and discussion, not a final map of the district. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: What makes a DDA different? Because Boulder already has several existing districts, including GIDs and our Business Improvement District, it's helpful to clarify how a DDA is different from those. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So our bid and GIDs primarily support operations, maintenance, programming, and parking management. A DDA can support all those functions as well.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: But what really distinguishes it is its ability to capture that long-term tax increment and borrow against future revenue. That financing authority allows a DDA to support larger district-scale capital investments at a scale that our current district simply cannot. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Another difference is governance. So, unlike GIDs, which are governed directly by city council. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: A DDA operates through an independent board composed primarily of district stakeholders, so business owners, property owners, and residents within the district. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And that structure really helps keep the district's reinvestment strategy closely connected to the people that live, work, and invest there. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And because the model is intended to be community-driven, we've approached the exploration process in a similar way, which will lead me to the next slide, outlining the planning and leadership process. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So over the past several months, this work has been guided by a planning group made up of community members, business leaders, and partner organizations. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I would like to call out that several planning group members are joining us online tonight and are available for questions. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Molly Winter is here, who has decades of experience with downtown management, and formerly led what was the Community Vitality Department, overseeing KGID and UGID funds. She's also a representative on the Boulder Connectors group. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Which focuses on strengthening the connection between downtown and the Hill. We also have Dakota Soyfer on the call, owner of Cafe Aeon on the Hill, and chair of the Hill Boulder Merchants Association. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: and Terry Takata-Smith, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at the Downtown Boulder Partnership. All members have been really instrumental in guiding this process.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: But back to the role of the planning group. They meet monthly, they help shape the concepts that we're evaluating. The group also serves as a bridge between city staff and the broader community. If this effort were to move forward to the ballot, the planning group is also anticipated to play a leadership role in outreach and community engagement. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And in parallel, we do have a technical working group of city staff. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Helping ensure that that work aligns with city priorities and existing efforts. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This slide shows the members of both the planning group and the departments in the technical working group. The list of planning group members was also included in your memo packet. I won't read through these names, but again, it includes representatives from business organizations, property owners, community groups, our commissions. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And several city departments on that technical working group. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Several key themes have consistently come up in planning group discussions. First, that a DDA should reflect community priorities and fiscal realities. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: They emphasized building on the City's past decade of planning and engagement to inform priorities for this effort, rather than launching a new planning process. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Secondly, and importantly, this is really a pivotal moment for Boulder's central business area, especially with the opportunity to better connect and align the Hill and downtown. We've seen a lot of change on the Hill in the past several years. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And there's broad community interest in aligning it more seamlessly into our downtown core. The decisions made now could really shape the area's trajectory for the next several decades in its role as an economic engine. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: There's also been emphasis on continued refinement of the DDA study area and conducting outreach to those who could be impacted.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Another theme is that there is limited appetite for an additional mill levy, particularly in cages, where property owners are already paying additional property taxes. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And then finally, there's a preference for a simple governance structure that avoids unnecessary complexity. Again, these are high-level themes that have surfaced in our planning group discussions. As I said, the members are on tonight and can speak to these more if council members have questions. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, if Boulder were to create a DDA, what could it actually do? The next slide goes into the plan of development. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The plan of development functions as the implementation roadmap for the district. It outlines district priorities, eligible projects, funding tools, governance structure, operational guardrails. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: A DDA operates over a long time frame, an initial term of 30 years, and can be extended in 20-year increments, so the plan of development establishes both long-term direction and near-term priorities. It can also be amended throughout the term of the DDA. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It matters because it guides how the funding can be used and provides oversight for investments made in the DDA. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We're currently in the process of developing the plan of development. It's been guided by the planning group, informed by past plans and studies. We held some info sessions to gather some additional community input in late January. And as we move forward, it will be refined with Council guidance, and it's not final until the DDA board, once seated, approves it. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: These themes reflect the types of investments a DDA could support. They are intentionally very broad at this point in the process. Again, pulled from past plans and studies and reviewed by the planning group.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We still have a lot of engagement and analysis to conduct before refining and specifying what these themes ultimately translate to. But in many ways, I just want to highlight here that these themes represent the full range of activities a DDA could potentially support. I won't read through them, but happy to answer questions about the themes or the process. Again. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: These are guiding themes, and they will continue to be refined over the coming months, and we plan to return to Council in June with a draft, more detailed plan of development. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Looking at examples from other Colorado communities really helps illustrate the scale of projects a DDA can support. In Denver, their DDA has supported major public space improvements in the Civic Center, redevelopment projects, and public-private partnerships. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: In Fort Collins, their DDA helped transform underutilized alleys into activated pedestrian corridors. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: They've made significant upgrades to their old town square, and they've supported redevelopment of stalled properties into mixed-use, vibrant projects. So, these are just examples of how DDAs can really support large-scale transformational projects. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This brings us to the funding question. So, to deliver the types of investments that I've discussed, a DDA needs a financial structure that can support that long-term reinvestment. Let's go to the next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And before diving into the financial modeling, I think it's really helpful here to first outline the key policy choices that shape how a DDA would work. The reason for that is because the financial model depends on some of these policy decisions. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: There are really 3 main areas that we're looking at. First is the overall funding strategy.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Second is how our GIDs and existing district assets, including parking, might be structured. And third is governance and oversight. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So the next several slides, I'll walk through the financial modeling under a few possible approaches, then we'll come back to these policy questions and the initial directions that staff is recommending. So this is to really just kind of set the stage before we get into the numbers. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Understanding the funding model. This is an important slide. DDAs typically rely on three main revenue sources. First is TIF, which captures growth in property and sales taxes generated within the district, and it can include all dedicated sales and property tax funds. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Second is a voter-approved mill levy, which really provides that stable annual funding. It can also support early DDA operations, since TIF takes time to build. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We know from planning group discussions there's limited appetite for additional mill levies. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Particularly in areas already paying higher property taxes, such as CAGED. So one idea we're exploring is whether the existing CAGED mill levy could potentially be replaced by a DDA-wide mill levy at the current CAGED rate, rather than layering something new on top. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That said, we still have additional outreach to do, especially with property owners outside of KJID, to understand whether there's broader community appetite for that approach. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And then the third potential revenue source is other revenues.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Which could include the parking assets that are currently owned and operated by the GADs. Downtown, in particular, has several valuable parking assets, so one of the questions we're evaluating is what it might look like if those assets were ultimately owned and operated by a DDA. So I'll talk about that more in a moment. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: But the key point that I really want to nail down here is that the scale of investment that a DDA can support is directly tied to the structure of its revenue. If pieces of that structure are removed, the district's ability to borrow and invest becomes more limited. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It's also important to note that property tax TIF affects more than just the city. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It also affects overlapping taxing entities, including Boulder County and Boulder Valley School District, which is why intergovernmental coordination will be an important part of the work ahead. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: For sales tax TIF, there could be implications for the city's general fund. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: If Council supports continued refinement of the direction that we'll be sharing this evening, staff would come back with a proposed framework that includes safeguards and potential revenue-sharing parameters designed to protect the city and provide greater certainty for affected taxing entities. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This graph illustrates how TIF works. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, the DDA sets a base year. Hypothetically, if this moves forward and passes by qualified electors, that base year could be 2026. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And any growth from new investment beyond that base is captured and reinvested back into the district.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It's important to note that with the base, the base property tax revenue continues to grow from natural appreciation and continues to go to the taxing entities. Only growth from new investment goes to the DDA. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: the base sales tax continues to go to the city, but does not appreciate. And so that's represented in that… in the dark blue poly… polygon on the graph, the base that continues to go to the taxing entities. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: But the overall idea is that those reinvestments from the increment then help drive additional economic activity and tax revenue over time, creating a thriving downtown area. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So for the next few slides, I'm going to walk through several financial scenarios to illustrate how this could perform in Boulder. These are not final forecasts, they are initial projections to help us understand how the funding structure could work over time. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And I just want to start with a few, key assumptions here. So, the base year is 2026, and the model includes both property tax and sales tax increment, including dedicated taxes. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The primary scenario shown assumes 1% annual growth, which we consider a conservative but realistic assumption for Boulder. We've also included a mill levy scenario here using the current caged rate applied across the entire DDA study area. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, this slide shows the baseline revenue projections under that 1% growth scenario, which includes the mill levy consideration and property and sales tax, TIF.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: At the 1% growth level, revenue starts modestly and grows steadily as the district develops over time. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And just for more specific context, so year one shows roughly $300,000 in TIF revenue, that's property and sales annual tax revenues combined. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: But with that mill levy, the total would be about $2.1 million in year one. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: By year 10, the model shows roughly $3 million annually in TIF, or about $5 million with that added mill levy. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And then the cumulative totals for the full 30-year period are shown on the right side of the slide. And to clarify, all columns represent annual revenue, except for that last column on the right, which shows the cumulative total. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This chart shows the average annual revenue under that 1% growth scenario, with TIF in a mill levy, not with parking assets. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Broken into 3 10-year periods. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, under this scenario, the district would generate roughly $3.6 million average annually in the early years, growing to around $10 million annually by years 21 through 30. So, even though this scenario shows pretty meaningful long-term revenue, it also illustrates why structure matters. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And if the goal is to support larger, more catalytic projects, Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: With this level of growth, the district's ability to support truly transformational investments could still be somewhat limited.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, for example, projects like supporting major civic area redevelopment of the 14th Street Law on the Hill, or significantly improving the connections between downtown and the hill may not be as feasible under this revenue scenario. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The next slide looks at what happens when parking revenue is included in that model. So we can go to the next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So again, this slide illustrates what happens if parking revenue is part of this broader district funding strategy. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Importantly, I want to state up front that under any scenario, parking revenues would continue to support parking operations, maintenance, and capital needs first. Parking should continue to function as an independent system. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: However, the presence of that revenue stream can significantly strengthen the district's borrowing capacity because it provides that stable source of funding. So, in other words, parking revenue could allow the DDA to finance larger investments earlier. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: while still ensuring that the parking revenues fund parking operations and maintenance and long-term capital improvements of the parking structures. As you can see on the chart, the average totals nearly double compared to the previous slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Okay, now we're gonna return to the policy considerations that I shared earlier, and we can go right into the next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, one of the key policy questions for Council is this overall funding strategy.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Staff's initial direction is to explore a coordinated model that combines that mill levy to provide stable annual funding, property tax increment, which would capture long-term growth in property values tied to redevelopment and investment in the district. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Sales tax increment, which captures growth in economic activity generated by a stronger central business area, and then the inclusion of the parking assets. Together, these tools create both stable annual funding and long-term capital capacity. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And to be clear, staff's recommendation is to continue refining this approach with really clear fiscal safeguards and revenue sharing coordination built in. So that includes protecting the city's general fund, providing greater certainty for overlapping taxing entities, and establishing clear parameters Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: through the plan of development and any intergovernmental agreements if a DDA were ultimately approved. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So the question for Council this evening is really whether this is the right funding direction to continue refining with those safeguards in place. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This leads to the next policy consideration, which is how a DDA would interact with existing district assets, particularly the parking structures. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The primary model that we're evaluating would place those assets under the DDA structure over time, in which the GIDs, KJID, and UGID, would dissolve. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The benefit of this approach is that it would provide clearer accountability, stronger borrowing capacity, and better alignment between asset management and broader economic development strategy. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We're also continuing to evaluate alternatives, including models where the GIDs dissolve, but the city retains ownership, and the DDA operates the structures through an intergovernmental agreement.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: or where the GIDs remain in place, with it maybe a narrower scope, and the DDA focuses on broader reinvestment. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, to summarize, what we're really asking tonight is whether Council supports continued refinement of this model as the leading direction while that additional legal, financial, and operational analysis continues, as well as what a structured and seamless transition would look like. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: This slide outlines the governance structure established under Colorado statute, as well as Council's role. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: A DDA board must include 5 to 11 members of district stakeholders along with a city council representative. Members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And regardless of the governance model, Council really still retains significant oversight, including appointing the board, approving the annual budget and operating plan, and authorizing any borrowing or ballot measures, including a mill levy. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So while a DDA can provide more focused district capacity, it would still remain connected to city oversight and accountability. Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: DDAs can operate under two models, one being more tied to the municipality, with city staff overseeing financials, administration, and operations. The alternative is an independent, stand-alone entity with its own staff managing those components. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Staff's initial direction is to explore a standalone DDA model with a transition period built in. This approach would ultimately provide dedicated capacity and strong community leadership while still maintaining city oversight. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And if a DDA were formed, we would anticipate a roughly a 1-2 year transition period during which city staff would provide administrative and financial support.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That phased transition would allow the City, likely with consultant support who has experience in the administration of DDAs, to help us get set up for success and ensure the DDA is set up to function as a stable and accountable entity over the long term. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: We can go right into the next. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, in terms of next steps, and depending on Council direction tonight, we'll continue refining the plan of development through the spring, as well as financial modeling, including fiscal guardrails, legal analysis, community engagement, and boundary refinement. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The goal would be to return to Council in June of this year to determine whether to refer formation and funding measures to the ballot. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: And if referred, the election would occur, in November of this year among qualified electors within the district. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Next slide. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, outlined here are the questions, for Council that are also included in your memo. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I know that was a lot of information, but in summary, the goal of tonight's discussion is really to make sure that we're heading in the right direction before we continue drafting the plan of development and refining the financial structure over the coming months. So… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: With that, I'm happy to hand it back to Councilmember Weiner and open it up for questions. Tara Winer: Thank you so much, Regan. That was an excellent presentation. You made DDAs almost easy, but not quite. Tara Winer: Okay, let's start with clarifying questions, and I bet there are plenty. Tara Winer: Okay, Tina. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, thank you. So, I have a couple, starting questions, and… The first I have is… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): In the civic area.

Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): There has been some talk about a farmer's market, and it appears that that area is also in the proposed new DDA, but I'm not sure. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): My question is, who would invest to make that Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): farmer's market idea happen, and then would the increment go to the person who invested, or just the DDA, regardless of whether it's the city, or private entity or the DDA itself? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question, thank you. I may pass that one to Mark, if that's okay. Mark Woulf: Yeah, happy to take that question. It is currently within the study area for the boundaries of the DDA. We have issued a request for interest for that entire block, what we call the East Bookend, as a part of that. Mark Woulf: request for interest, or RFI. We did include a vision of, a permanent year-round. Mark Woulf: farmer's market presence. That's also in addition to our planned investment, the city's planned investment in the civic area, in particular 13th Street, to help support just general infrastructure for the farmer's market. Mark Woulf: We are currently reviewing the interest proposals, if you will, that we received. A lot of great ideas so far in imagining what that looks like. The exact financing structure, that will be a part of the next step, which would be a request for proposals, where we actually start Mark Woulf: figuring out what we want in a partnership, that's where we would potentially outline the role of a Downtown Development Authority, depending on any action that happens in November. I think, in general, we would contemplate the use of tax increment financing there, depending on the scale and scope. Mark Woulf: We also have a tremendous amount of leverage as a city, given that we own a lot of the land and buildings. And so, remains to be seen exactly if we need to use

Mark Woulf: such a tool in that area. But so far, we're on a really good path to realize the vision of a more permanent or more robust presence of the farmer's market on that block. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And the increment that would go to the DDA? Mark Woulf: That's right, so if it was in the boundaries of a DDA, as those parcels were to revert or to move to private ownership, the increment of property tax would go to the DDA if it was included in the district. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, and then the other piece is there's some work being contemplated for, the district, the mall itself, and the civic area by the Parks Department. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Would those financing streams change at all, and would any of the maintenance of those places change in the DDA structure? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question. I… there is… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I think those… those details are still to be worked out in terms of what the DDA's role would be, but there is certainly an opportunity for the DDA to support those projects financially, including the maintenance and operations of both those projects. I don't know if there's anything you want to add to that, Mark? Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yeah, and it would just be helpful to know if the DDA might take over some of the maintenance and operations that are, you know, expected by business owners in downtown. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): You know, to the benefit, perhaps, of parks, but also to lessening the ability to do more transformational work under the DDA. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): The other question I have is… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Are we already revenue sharing in this area through Cage with any other entities? I can't remember where we ended up with Sundance and some of the hotel… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Is there any revenue sharing going there? Mark Woulf: We do have a, as a part of our overall, contract with, the Sundance Institute, we, we do have, some.

Mark Woulf: sharing of parking revenue associated just with the period of time of the festival. And so, we would need to account for that if the structure of Cajet were to change. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): So that would just be incorporated into the guardrails. Mark Woulf: That's. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, and then the other piece is when, when we take the vote. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): we're, you know, we're extending the area to people who haven't had this mill levy tax before, so they're new, and they tend to be on the perimeter of the new zone of the DDA. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Would we consider having it where at least 50% of those people have to agree when we do the vote, or is there a way to do that, or a precedent, so that it's not… if they're not the majority. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): That they can't be… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): If they all oppose it, they can't be taxed by the main people who are already being taxed, who would just benefit from their… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): No levy revenue. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question, Councilmember. My understanding is that Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: all… the way the voting works is the qualified electors within the district boundaries vote, and it's the majority of those who vote. And I may have Brad speak to the specifics of that, unless I nailed it. Brad Segal: Yeah, that's correct. It would be a majority vote from the entire district, and various subareas would not be able to stand alone on their own, which I think was part of your question as well. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Right, I was just wondering if we could at least have 30% from each section, you know, the new section and the existing section, just so it feels like something's not being done to someone who may not benefit as richly from a connector, in that case. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And then… Mark Woulf: If I might add to that, Tina, sure. Mark Woulf: And Brad went…

Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): You're, we're done. If you want to introduce yourself, just for the record, that'd be helpful. Mark Woulf: The other thing to note is that, in terms of scale, you know, it… we think that if you're not in KJID right now and paying that additional mill levy, the additional mill levy for those not in Eugid or KJID Mark Woulf: On the average value of commercial property within the area is about $200 to $400 annually. Mark Woulf: For those within Eugid that would see a property tax increase, that's probably about $100 to $200, annually. So, the scale on the mill levy isn't… isn't huge. Mark Woulf: But that being said, we still have additional outreach to do, and certainly if, you know, an area was not so warm to this proposal, that was something we would consider from a policy perspective of how Mark Woulf: abroad to make the district. We could also, use the public right-of-way, and so that if there were future properties that wanted to. Mark Woulf: opt-in, essentially, petition into the district. They could do that without being in the initial boundaries and paying the initial mill levy. So there are some policy options, that you all can consider. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, and then my final question, sorry for taking so much time. Picking 2026 is an interesting year, because it's the baseline before Sundance, and clearly in 2026, there hasn't been transformational work done Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): to merit the increment. Is there a benefit to the city to use 2027 as the baseline, and then that might be more reflective of incremental or transformational work done by the DDA? Or is this… is there intentionality?

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question. It's something… it's an option that's on the table, and it's something that we're working with our colleagues in finance to determine what would the best base year be for this effort. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And can we… can we vote to have the base this year, but have the base year be 2027? It doesn't have to go into effect immediately. Mark Woulf: It does not. It is whenever the DDA is established and the board Mark Woulf: essentially forms itself. I believe that is the trigger when the base… it's essentially the point in time for sales tax. Mark Woulf: So if a DDA were to be created by voters in November and not establish itself more formally until March or April, then your base… your base starts at that point. And so, that's… that's one potential, is that just the sheer timeline of this. Mark Woulf: The other is, to Regan's point, the city has an opportunity with the DDA to establish a revenue sharing agreement, which you could outline when a base year would start, or how much of revenue on the sales tax TIF would be shared, for instance. So, those are all possibilities. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, thank you so much. Tara Winer: Okay, before I pick, go to the next person, Mark, I just want to say that we have only an hour and a half for this, and these are only the questions, so everybody, you don't have to ask everything that's on your mind, just throwing it out there. The most important questions to help us know… Tara Winer: whether or not we want to go to the next steps. How's that? Good? Okay. Mark, you're next. Mark Wallach: I'll only ask the best questions. Mark Wallach: If we follow staff's recommendation to do a standalone DDA, does Council have any control over Mark Wallach: The amount of their expenditures, the projects they select. Mark Wallach: The amount of overhead they want to incur.

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yeah, councils… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: oversight still remains quite significant, whether the DDA is a standalone entity or operates under the municipality. Under the standalone entity, Council still approves the annual budget, approves the plan of development, the operating plan, so there's still pretty significant, oversight built in. Mark Wallach: Okay, second, Mark Wallach: I did not… maybe I just read this wrong… read this wrong, but does the TIF require a vote of those in the district? I didn't see language that required that to be part of the vote. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It does. There will be several questions if this moves to the ballot, and Brad Siegel with PUMA is here with us, who may be able to speak better, more eloquently to this, but one question will be. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: just in regard to establishing a DDA, the other question would be, do you authorize the DDA to utilize TIF? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Is that correct, Brad? Brad Segal: Just for the record, I'm Brad Siegel, I'm the president of PUMA, Progressive Urban Management Associates. We've been advisors to the city on both the DDA and the prior improvement district analysis. In terms of the ballot that would go to just electors within the boundaries of the DDA, Brad Segal: The ballot would have, several questions, and there would likely be 3 or 4 questions. One question would be on the creation of the DDA itself. Should we create a DDA? A second question, Brad Segal: would relate, to the item you just brought up. So the second question would authorize the collection of tax increment. Brad Segal: A third question, could address a mill levy.

Brad Segal: And a fourth question, which is not currently contemplated, could address, any borrowing or bonding. Brad Segal: So at this point, we're anticipating those first three questions, and any potential bonding or borrowing could go back through Council to the electors at a later date. Mark Wallach: Okay, just a couple quick questions. The bonding on TIF revenues, what is… is that… are those bonds secured simply by the revenues themselves? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: By the future revenues. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Okay, so… Yes, yes. Okay. Mark Wallach: And… last of… Mark Wallach: Are these questions going to be on the general ballot? Because it's going to be highly confusing to people when they see this Mark Wallach: tome this… all of these questions, and all of this data, and people are going to think, well, I have to fill that out, too. How are we going to relieve people of their confusion and anxiety when they see all of these decisions that have to be made, and they're not part of the district? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: So, my understanding is that an additional ballot will be provided to only the qualified electors within the boundaries. Mark Wallach: Thank you. And, those are my questions. I hope that was quick enough for, Tara Winer: was. Mark Wallach: for Tara. Tara Winer: It was. Tara Winer: Alright, next for his quick questions is we're going to Rob. Robert Kaplan: It's gonna be so fast, Tara. Robert Kaplan: I just have a question. On the legal structure, would the DDA share the city's, legal, and would they be liable for their own debt? Would the city be liable on the hook for that debt as well, should something go sideways? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I may punt that one to our city attorney's office. Teresa, do you want to take that question?

Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: I'm happy to. So, as a separate legal entity, the DDA would have their own legal representation. Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: And I'm sorry, Councilmember, what was the second part of your question? Robert Kaplan: Just the liability piece of it, is the city liable for… Robert Kaplan: slip and falls, or, debt not being repaid, or is that all within the DDA itself as well? Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: That's all within the DDA. It is, as its own legal entity, it assumes its own liabilities. Robert Kaplan: Gotcha. That's all I have, thank you. Tara Winer: Thanks, Rob. By the way, all these questions are great. I don't want people to think I don't think they're great. They are. Next. Tara Winer: Great and quick question. Matt Benjamin. Tara Winer: Nope, that's not true. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Mayor goes first. Tara Winer: Aaron Brockett. Mayor, Brockett, you're next. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): chopped over here. Thanks, Tara. One question, okay, so, with the TIF revenue, it's not going to come from existing properties, right? Their natural appreciation is not going to contribute to the TIF revenue. But you said that as investments are made. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): then the, increase in revenue from those investments would then become part of the TIF revenue. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): How does that work for something like an alley activation, where it's hard to assess how that investment in the alley is then playing into increased sales and property taxes? So how do we determine what gets included in the TIF revenue? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question. Brad, can you speak to maybe examples from other communities, or do you have more insight on that? Brad Segal: Sure, it's a great question, and this is all, determined by the assessor. Brad Segal: So, your county assessor, Has a method for determining what part of a property's improvement is from appreciation.

Brad Segal: And then also some distinction in terms of what new investment might be. I will say this is also hotly debated throughout the state among different assessors, because it can get a little cloudy. Brad Segal: But the quick answer is this would be determined by the county assessor, year to year, as properties are evaluated. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Good to know. So not our problem, in other words, but… and the… Cynthia. Brad Segal: Of course. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): She's good at her job, so I trust her to do a good job with that, too. That's all I got. Thank you. Tara Winer: Thanks, Mayor. Next, we have Matt. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Yeah, so sticking with the governance question, I… Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: What was presented was a one-year… one to two-year ramp-up, supported by staff and consultants. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: And I guess that's kind of the first I'm hearing, to some extent, or the understanding of the longer runway to which staff is going to maybe have a pretty heavy involvement. So I just wanted to get a sense of how… how much of that involvement is, because we have quite a backlog of economic development work that we want to do, so I'm just kind of wondering. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: where that staff capacity is to do those things, and if maybe we need to have different expectations about tackling office vacancy, and incentives and other business support, things that we all want to get going on. So I'm just kind of wondering how that maybe impacts Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: the next couple years of work from the Cultural and Economic Development Department. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yeah, absolutely, no, that's a great question. It would require, some staff capacity, but we would bring on additional consultant support. We have… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Brought on a consultant that Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: has experience in administering DDAs day-to-day, and so the goal would really be to establish the framework before, then deciding kind of the permanent operational model on day one. It really just buys us that runway, but we'd lean fairly heavily on that consultant support during that ramp-up phase. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Tara Winer: Is that it, Matt? Tara Winer: Great, okay, now we have Taisha. Tara Winer: Let's see, where is Taisha? Tara Winer: Taisha, are you there? Taishya Adams: Yes, I am. Tara Winer: Awesome. Taishya Adams: Awesome. Tara Winer: That's right. Taishya Adams: Take the dog out. Taishya Adams: So I appreciate, all my colleagues' questions. They've really answered a ton that I had. The only that I… only that has not Taishya Adams: been asked that yet has been how, climate projections, were included, and employment contract… employment projections were included, for the different modeling that you… that were used for this. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a great question, Councilmember. That would be, the next stage of analysis. We really haven't gotten to that level of detail quite yet in the financial modeling. These are initial financial projections, and so that would be the next phase of this work. Tara Winer: Any other questions, Taisha? Tara Winer: All right. Taishya Adams: Save the rest for comments, thank you. Tara Winer: Alright, moving on to Nicole. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you. Thanks so much for this presentation. Just a couple of questions, really just looking for quick answers, nothing, nothing too detailed. One is, that once the plan of development is there, can that be revised, over time? Okay. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yep, it can be amended at any time throughout the term of the DDA. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, cool, thank you. And then, I really appreciate, that the equity tools being used were talking to community connectors and really trying to include more people,

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): when we think about how we could hold, the DDA accountable to, making progress on some of these equity goals and including equity programs, are we really talking about, Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): the plan of development, are we talking about approval of the annual budget? I mean, what are sort of the accountability mechanisms that we would have as Council, in… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): In making sure that these goals are, are, or, plans are really brought forward. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yeah, really great question. I would say all of the above. I mean, as the plan of development is refined, equity considerations will be incorporated, into the project priorities and the strategies that are outlined in that plan. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: for example, supporting inclusive and welcoming spaces, ensuring the district serves all community members, so that's certainly one tool to hold the DDA accountable. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Don't know if anyone else, Mark. Mark Woulf: Yeah, that is true, and also Council makes the board appointments, so that's another key area, where that certainly can be brought to the table. And then I think in general, regardless of structure, the DDA and the city would be very, very close partners and have Mark Woulf: joint goals and how we want to see the downtown develop over time, and so that could be established formally through the IGA, that could be more, you know, informal work. Mark Woulf: And again, we'd have a little bit of a ramp-up period to make sure that it was set up in the way that matched our vision. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, so the same way that we've been moving toward outcome-based budgeting in a bunch of different areas, the DDA Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Could be held to those same… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): similar standards in that regard. Okay. And then my other question was just around what's considered parking assets. Does that include, like, our parking garages and surface lots and things like that? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Correct, yep. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Garages and the surface lots.

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, and then just one quick follow-up question. When we were considering the library district and how that was formed, we did not want to give over the assets, the buildings, to the library district, and I'm just curious what… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): What makes the DDA different that we would think about handing over assets like parking garages and, you know, plots of land and things that we use for parking? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I may punt that to you, Mark. Mark Woulf: Yeah, happy to take that one. It is a fair question. The difference is a couplefold. One is that these assets were originally invested in by downtown property owners through the mill levy, through KJID, and so I think there's some, you know, direct nexus to Mark Woulf: making sure that those assets continue to directly benefit downtown property owners. And then related to that is the flexibility, especially in the short term. Mark Woulf: With, knowing that Mark Woulf: TIF, is generated slowly, because we're mostly built out in the downtown, and the property tax mill levy will only generate so much. And so, I think if the goal is to kind of Mark Woulf: you know, have that shot in the arm, if you will, from an economic perspective in the downtown. You need something kind of backing it to provide that flexibility. And so, that is kind of what has led to looking at the parking assets as perhaps that way to provide that shorter-term flexibility. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you. Tara Winer: Excellent. Whoa. Tara Winer: Sorry. Tara Winer: Now we have Ryan. Ryan Schuchard: Just one question, Ryan Schuchard: about costs. So, if, if, you know, we're being… considering whether to move forward or not. Ryan Schuchard: How can we think about the, just kind of baseline costs, if we say to move forward.

Ryan Schuchard: what does it cost us? Like, in terms… Matt got it… some of this with staff bandwidth, but I'm also thinking more direct cost, you know, consultant fees, other fees. Ryan Schuchard: So what's, yeah, just what's, like, the kind of operating cost as we go forward that we will have to, you know, we will be responsible for no matter what happens? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That's a good question, and there are certainly trade-offs when evaluating or considering a DDA. In… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I think this is what you're speaking to, but correct me if I'm wrong. In the earlier years. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The fiscal impact is fairly small, because the… the increment starts small. So in the financial model that I presented, the first year increment is around $300,000. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Are you, are you referring to the operating cost, or the… Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: The revenue sharing with the city. Ryan Schuchard: Guess I'm a little confused by the question. Yeah, sorry, I, I'm just thinking about this in terms of… Ryan Schuchard: This is an… this is an opportunity to… to, use… Ryan Schuchard: financing to pursue investments. So I'm just trying to think about the cost side of it, like, just to move forward, Ryan Schuchard: what are the… what are the direct costs that are associated? Like, if we do the bare minimum, going ahead, what is… what does this cost us, like, you know, per year, starting… starting now? I suppose it would include consultant fees. Ryan Schuchard: probably staff salaries to some extent, but I'm just trying to get a sense of the overhead, the financial overhead of going forward. Mark Woulf: Yeah, I appreciate the question, Ryan. I… so there have been costs to date, certainly staff time, consulting, costs associated with that. I don't know the number off the top of my head, but I think, in general, there's a…

Mark Woulf: a broader city interest, certainly supported by Council's policy direction and exploring this. And so, if we continue, there will be associated costs. Those are shared across several funds, including the General Improvement District, since there is a Mark Woulf: An interest, of those districts in the future. Mark Woulf: Similarly, if we were to move forward and actually create it and then operate it, essentially, on behalf of the DDA for a period of time, all of those costs would be reimbursed by the DDA. Mark Woulf: if we were, in that arrangement, and we would… we would outline that in an IGA moving forward. So, I… certainly there'd be some, kind of, Mark Woulf: you know, costs that we wouldn't get reimbursed for that we're doing right now, but I think, you know, as a part of the city's work plan, and thinking of the connections and importance and relevance to the whole city, that is why we've, continued to spend time and resources in order to explore this project. Ryan Schuchard: Okay, so what I'm hearing is going ahead, it's kind of de minimis to say yes. As far as costs go, as far as cost overhead, this isn't something that's a sig… yeah, okay, fine, thanks. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Now, before we pick Mark, I'm assuming you have an emergency double dip. Mark Wallach: Yes, an emergency. Tara Winer: Before we pick you, I'm gonna ask one or two questions, if that's okay. Mark Wallach: Oh my god, go ahead. Tara Winer: Okay, so my first question is for staff. Can you just explain, in a very short manner. Tara Winer: Why… remember that slide when you had two options? Tara Winer: One where we were more involved than the other. Tara Winer: Remember that slide, Regan? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yes, the governance… Tara Winer: Yeah, why, why did… why did, the city feel this was a better option to be not involved or less involved?

Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: I think ultimately, I mean, we still have more analysis to do, this is our initial direction, but ultimately, it would provide the DDA with dedicated staff capacity, and it wouldn't divert city staff from a lot of the priorities that… that we, have on our hands, and, Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: It would also kind of create that strong community leadership model while. Tara Winer: Excellent. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: obtaining city oversight. Tara Winer: Excellent, good answer. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Oh, thanks. Tara Winer: Okay, and lastly, I don't need this now, but I'm wondering, in the world of DDAs, if there are city, similar city sizes, how their DDAs have gone. Tara Winer: If there's any information on that, you know how you do that sometimes, staff, when you bring us back, this city, that city? I'd be interested in that, just as an email, or… Tara Winer: Just so I can read about that. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yeah. Tara Winer: But that's not really a question. Okay, Mark is your… Mark Wallach: Very quickly, Nicole raised a very interesting issue. As the DDA is not eternal in its, in its lifespan, I assume there'll be some form of… Mark Wallach: reversion of all property in the DDA back to the city when it dissolves? Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: That is my understanding, yes. So, the initial term of the DDA is 30 years, and it can be extended up to 2 20-year increments. So, 70 years, is a total lifespan of the DDA, and at that point, all property and assets would be diverted back to the city. Mark Wallach: Okay, so we're… in effect, we're loaning them, but not giving them to the DDA. Reegan Brown, City of Boulder: Yes. Mark Wallach: Thank you. Tara Winer: Great, okay, we're moving on to the next, section. Regan, can you put that slide up that has the next two questions back? I know it's in our chat, but it's easier for me to, like, just look at it on the screen for a sec.

Tara Winer: And when we do this. Tara Winer: We're basically giving the city… okay, so the first one is, does Council support continued refinement? Tara Winer: I'm not gonna read the whole thing. Does Council support continued evaluation of the structural model? Tara Winer: And if you hear someone saying the same thing exactly as you, you want to raise your hand and just say, I agree, we don't have to hear the whole thing over again, moving along, because I know we're going to have a pretty big lift in the ballot measures. All right, so who wants to get us started with their opinion of 2 and 3? Tara Winer: Mark seems to be… nope, Nicole is first. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Very quick. Yes and yes. Tara Winer: All right. Tara Winer: Let's see, Tina. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yes and yes, but I would also like an option where the city retains ownership of the parking lots, so… Okay. So, taking that down a little bit. Tara Winer: All right, nice. I love this. Tara Winer: I love what we're doing here. Matt, you're next. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Yes and yes, and would just like to make sure we really clearly define the guardrails in terms of how much split comes to the city versus stays, with the, DDA, or the TIF in that manner, so… Tara Winer: Fantastic. Aaron? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Yes, and yes, and then look forward to that conversation that Matt just mentioned about the division. And, I'm generally in favor of probably handing everything over to the DDA, but look forward to finalizing those decisions later. Thanks. Tara Winer: Rob. Robert Kaplan: Yes and yes, and I'd also be interested in the other funding opportunities for them, or revenue-generating opportunities. Tara Winer: Ryan. Ryan Schuchard: Yes and yes, with all of the riders that my, my colleagues have mentioned. Tara Winer: Mark's hand is up now. Mark Wallach: Yes, and yes, but I'd like to have some continued analysis of

Mark Wallach: Whether we do this as a standalone, with greater council involvement. Mark Wallach: I think there's still some questions out there. Tara Winer: Okay. Well, I'll just join everybody in yes and yes. Are there any more people Tara Winer: that want to say anything. Before we move on. Taishya Adams: I would like to. Tara Winer: Go in. Thank you. Taishya Adams: Briefly, of course. Taishya Adams: So… Taishya Adams: I want to say that I'm supportive of moving forward. My bigger concern is I don't understand why we're continuing to make decisions without considering climate first, nature first. We know, the… Taishya Adams: just even the climate that we… I mean, the… the… Taishya Adams: current winter, or lack thereof, for this year, and the projections on the Colorado River. I went back to the water supply, plan, Taishya Adams: report that was provided in July 2025, and I just immediately was curious, you know, I went back to those models, and Taishya Adams: The fact that an… that… Taishya Adams: Those considerations are not Step 1. I also had the same issue when we were talking about Area 3. Taishya Adams: And not having Step 1 be inclusive of, climate or nature considerations. It's all human-based. Taishya Adams: Those projections and those models are completely off if we're not considering, water, air, and energy, and the impacts we know that they're going to have on any business, any resident, any commercial, anything that we're doing. So I continue to be disappointed that we say that we are, you know, a climate-smart city, but we're not including climate in the first level of the analysis. This also reminds me of the airport

Taishya Adams: When a report was generated, and it didn't include, and it said that that land was worth $400 million, but it didn't include the cost of mitigation, which anybody who knows anything about mitigation, $400 million doesn't seem like a lot of money for a place that's been spit on by lead for the last 50 years. So, anywho, again, I am supportive of the next step, however. Taishya Adams: it must be inclusive of a climate consideration, and again, I don't know what the process is for these kind of considerations, but I just don't think that it is worth our time, if we're making even this decision without having, some of that environmental, data that is available. Thank you. Tara Winer: Okay, thanks so much. Okay, so it looks like we are done, and I have to ask staff, is there anything that you need from us that we didn't give you yet? Mark Woulf: I believe we have everything we need. We appreciate your feedback. Tara Winer: Fantastic. Let's see, I'm gonna… we're gonna move on to the next subject. Tara Winer: Who wants to take it from here? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Thanks so much, Mayor Pro Tem. Our next topic is, closely related in that it talks about potential ballot… text ballot strategies, so apropos of a good conversation, today. And so I'm going to pass it on. Krista, I believe you are going to kick us off? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I will kick us off. Wonderful. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Thank you, Nuria. Good evening, Mayor Brockett and members of City Council, Krista Morrison, Chief Financial Officer, and I'm joined this evening by Scott Carpenter, Principal Budget Analyst. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And Scott, would you mind us share our slides here? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Thank you. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Or I get too far ahead here. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Thank you. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Our agenda this evening will cover the long-term financial strategy. We'll start with an overview of the long-term financial strategy, review our progress to date. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Talk about what's ahead for the long-term financial strategy for 2026, and our focus this evening will be the potential 2026 tax ballot measures. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: This early review and discussion was requested at the Council Retreat to bring this before the City Council for discussion. Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: The long-term financial strategy focuses on the development of a comprehensive citywide strategy to help guide financial decision-making and long-term financial health of the city. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Sustainability, equity, and resilience, also known as CER, serve as the guiding principles that influence changes to financial decision making, financial planning, processes, and policy decisions. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Alignment with the CERV framework supports the strategic planning foundation for the organization. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: You'll see ahead in the slides, on ballot measures, this framework included as one example of the application of the CERF framework in the long-term financial strategy. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Named a top council priority in 2024, the long-term financial strategy builds upon recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission reports of 2008 and 2010, focusing on Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Taking care of what we have, and addressing a backlog of needs. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Prioritizing flexibility of funding to meet community needs, and recognizing the challenges of restricted funding.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Coordination of tax ballot measures with broader city financial planning, including alternative funding mechanisms and outcomes-based budgeting. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And distributing the tax burden more equitably. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: While this Council's very familiar with the long-term financial strategy, as it has been a Council priority since 2024, I think it's important to take a step back and highlight why the long-term financial strategy work is so important for a sustainable Boulder. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: 68% of Boulder's revenues are dedicated, limiting the city's flexibility and Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Ability to respond to emerging needs. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: This is Boulder's revenue by major type from the 2026 adopted budget. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: You'll see 3 major types of revenue. The top 3 types of revenue, are Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Sales and use tax, representing 35% of Boulder's revenue, followed by 19%, which is utility revenue, and that can only be used to support utility operations, followed by property tax, representing 12% of Boulder's revenue. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Boulder's largest revenue is sales and use tax, representing 35% of city revenues, or 45% if we exclude utilities. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Breaking down every retail sales dollar collected for Boulder, 43 cents goes to the City of Boulder, with 53 cents of that going to state, regional transit, and Boulder County. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Of the 43 cents of sales and use tax to Boulder, it's distributed across 6 funds. 5 of those funds are dedicated. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Boulder has among the highest rate of dedication of its sales tax in the Front Range. You'll see on this slide a regional comparison of Boulder. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: to its regional peers, and re-rank the second highest in dedicated use of sales tax, again, limiting the city's flexibility in responding to community needs. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: So, property tax is the third largest major source of revenue for Boulder, comprising 12-15% of the annual city revenues. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: For every dollar of property tax collected, the city receives 13%. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I'm highlighting this revenue source due to a reduction in revenue growth of property tax, in part due to recent state legislation. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Boulder has seen an average of 14% assessed growth rate during the reassessment cycles between 2013 and 2023. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: This growth is slowed to a 2.5% actual assessed growth rate in our most recent year-to-year assessment. So we're seeing a dramatic decrease in the growth of property tax. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: This slide has been previously shared, but important to highlight the unfunded and underfunded needs a city is working through to make progress with the long-term financial strategy. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: The long-term financial strategy prioritizes taking care of what we have and looking holistically as we work towards solutions to continue delivering services most impactful to this community. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Make progress on underfunded and unmet needs, both operational, such as advanced life support and affordable housing, and capital needs for citywide facilities.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Staff will be back in April to discuss in detail the citywide facility needs and funding. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: In summary, flattening revenue growth, highly restricted revenue sources reduce the city's flexibility to maintain existing service levels. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Underfunded and unmet needs and increasing costs highlight the very reason this Council has prioritized the long-term financial strategy. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Much progress has happened so far on the long-term financial strategy, and I think we should highlight those. In 2025, we developed a multi-year ballot strategy. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And thank you to this Council and the Boulder community for approving a permanent extension of the Community Culture Resilience, and Safety Tax. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: and increasing debt capacity for this fund. Again, we'll talk more in April on the extension of that tax and use of debt capacity as we look at current capital plans and citywide needs. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: In 2025, we also analyzed and incorporated alternative revenue sourcing sources within the 2026 budget. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: A few of those include the transportation maintenance fee, as well as speed on green cameras supporting the City's Vision Zero traffic safety goals. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: In 2025, we conducted and published the city's first comprehensive fee inventory. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: and developed engagement framework for Fund Our Future community conversations on trade-offs and service levels. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide, please. Thank you. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: So our focus for 2026 ahead Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Next slide is, a long-term comprehensive financial plan. Our work does not stop in 2026.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: So, we will be bringing forward a long-term comprehensive financial plan that is a combination of all the work streams to date on the long-term financial strategy, as well as bringing financial policy updates. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: We will continue to look at alternative revenue opportunities. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And then we will be kicking off, at the end of… March and in April. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Fund our future community conversations. The long-term financial strategy isn't just focused on revenue alone. Fund our future engagement sessions. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: We'll be hosted to hear directly from the community which services have the most impact, and what the community considers an acceptable level of service. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Will we be reviewing current service levels and discuss trade-offs when a higher level of service is desired? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Stay tuned next week for those session dates and times. There will be both virtual and in-person options available for those community conversations. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And then we're also, progressing in our multi-year tax ballot measures with this evening's discussion on potential 2026 tax ballot measures. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: We aren't looking this evening for final or specific ballot measure decisions tonight. There is more information that's forthcoming. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: That will include a city facilities funding conversation in April, fund our future community engagement feedback. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: latest financial forecast information forthcoming in May, and polling information that will help inform decisions on potential 2026 ballot measures. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: With that, I'll turn this over to Scott Carpenter to talk more specifically about our timeline and proposed, potential 2026 ballot measures.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Thank you very much, Krista. Good evening, Council. Scott Carpenter, Principal Budget Analyst. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Before we begin to preview the range of options, this slide shows the timeline for the ongoing 2026 ballot measures discussion. Tonight serves as an early preview and a preliminary discussion on a range of options for potential 2026 ballot measures. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Tonight's discussion and the April 9th meeting on the financial landscape of city facilities will help staff come back on May 14th with a more finalized listing where Council can narrow down the options that will be used for the 2026 polling survey. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: On the next two slides, I will discuss how staff arrived at this range of options and provide a preview of that range. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The potential 2026 tax ballot measures were developed as part of the multi-year ballot measure strategy, building on our efforts from last year's passage of the CCRS tax extension to have a more expanded approach, focusing on taking care of what we have and continuing to invest in our unmet needs. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The options also incorporate prior council feedback to prioritize revenue flexibility and stability, understand the interaction between ballot measures and the broader long-term financial strategy, and focus on reducing tax burdens for historically excluded groups. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This slide shows the range of options along a spectrum of revenue impact grouped by categorization of transformational changes. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Which are significant changes that adjust the city's tax base to support revenue sufficiency, or changes that reduce the city's over-reliance on sales tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Mid-range changes, which increase taxes for general or specific purposes, or expand on the usage of existing taxes within dedicated funds, and structural changes, which are changes that do not increase taxes, but provide the city with more flexibility and increase ongoing potential revenue diversity.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Our focus tonight is not necessarily on these specific options, but understanding where accounts falls within this range, and what potential options or taxing mechanisms you are looking for staff to further explore. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: When staff comes back for the April 9th discussion on the financial picture of city facilities, we will be thinking about how these options can help us to bridge the gap on our unmet needs. By understanding where Council falls in this range. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This will allow staff to focus their time and effort in advance of the May 14th meeting, where the discussion will focus on a more narrowed approach and finalize options to include in this year's public survey. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Alright, for the rest of the presentation, we will preview some of the options that fall along this range, beginning with transformational changes, which again, are significant changes that adjust the city's tax base to support revenue sufficiency, or changes that reduce the city's over-reliance on sales tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The first ballot measure option is a sales tax on services, which proposes to remove the sales and use tax service exemption from selected services or potentially all services. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This diversifies the city's sales tax base and better aligns it to match the current economy, where approximately two-thirds of consumer spending is on services. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: By diversifying the tax base, revenue is significantly increased, which provides the city with sufficient revenues to fund city services and capital infrastructure and maintenance needs. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Sales tax is the most aggressive city tax, as people with lower incomes spend a higher percentage of their income on goods, and therefore sales tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: By excluding services, the regressivity of sales taxes worsened. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: With the increased levels of funding, the city can increase contingency funding and better adapt to change.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: There are some legal considerations with this option, as the city would be the first mover within Colorado to implement a broad service exemption for sales tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The revenue estimates for this option range widely, and are entirely dependent on the services taxed. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The next transformational option would be to reduce the city's sales tax rate and replace it with a property tax mill levy. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Doing so helps diversify city revenues, as sales tax currently accounts for 35% of city revenues, compared to 12% for property taxes. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Property tax is less regressive than sales tax, as the percentage of income spent on property tax is less disproportionate on people with lower incomes, and higher taxes are the result of higher property values. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Property tax is a more stable source of revenue that is not subject to the same economic volatility as sales tax, and while segments of our property tax are dedicated, the current structure is more flexible than sales tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: For reference, around 0.1% in sales tax rate is the equivalent of 1 mil, which would lead to a $5 million revenue redistribution. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The next few slides will discuss our mid-range changes. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: These are changes which increase taxes for general or specific purposes, or expand on the usage of existing taxes within dedicated funds. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The first option is a general purposes mill levy. This increases the city's property tax mill levy by 1.352 mils, up to the max 13 mils allowable by charter. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option diversifies flexible city revenues by increasing property tax revenues for general purposes. While it is a tax increase, it increases taxes for a less regressive tax than sales tax. This option would increase the city's stable and flexible ongoing revenues, allowing for better adaptability.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Leading to a $7 million per year revenue increase beginning in 2028 in the general fund for general purposes, such as advanced life support for ambulance services, human services programs, and city facility capital needs such as recreation centers and age well centers. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: It is important to note that any mill levy increase would not increase revenue until 2028, as the increase would take place beginning with the 2027 tax year. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This would result in a 1.4% property tax increase for property owners on average. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: For $1 million in residential property, it would be an increase of $85 a year, and for $1 million in commercial property, it would be an increase of $338 a year. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The next option is a public realm mill levy. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The public rail mill levy is an option that was brought forward last year, and would increase the city's property tax mill levy by 1.352 mils up to the max 13 mils allowable. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This would specifically be in the Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund, and would expand the usage of the fund to cover improvements throughout the public realm. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Or the option could be to just expand the usage without a tax increase. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This would support funding for capital infrastructure, renovation, replacement. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: And maintenance projects such as, but not limited to, parks, open space, civic buildings and areas, and the public right-of-way, including streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, and multi-use paths. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option diversifies flexible city revenues by increasing property tax revenue and expanding the usage of a currently restricted revenue source. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This increases revenues for a less regressive tax, or would not increase taxes, and would have the same fiscal impact as the previous option.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The final mid-range change It's for a residential vacancy excise tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This creates an excise tax on residential properties that are deemed vacant at least 183 days in a calendar year. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This diversifies city revenues with a new, undedicated tax is more likely to impact a higher-income population that owns multiple residential properties or units. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Using water utility data. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We estimated that approximately 500 to 1,000 properties would be subject to the tax. The estimates used those 500 to 1,000 properties and a $1,000 or $2,000 flat tax rate per year to determine the 1 to 2 million. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: There are also… there are also legal considerations for this tax, as we would be the first mover in Colorado. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: State legislature… the state legislature attempted to produce enabling legislation for a vacant property or excise tax. However, that tax did not pass, but it could have the potential to succeed in future sessions. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: And lastly, moving on to structural changes. Once again, these are changes that do not increase taxes, but provide the city with more flexibility and increase ongoing potential revenue diversity. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The first structural change is a general fund debt authorization. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option would ask voters to authorize the general fund to issue debt, which it currently does not have the ability to do so. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Staff is grateful for voter approval of the CCARS extension and debt authorization from last fall, and with that, we do have additional flexibility. However, that is currently our only source of flexible funds for capital infrastructure, and staff considers having this option within the general fund as a best practice. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option increases flexible funding that can be used for unmet needs with capital infrastructure, and it does not raise taxes.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Staff are currently evaluating a range of options between $75 and $100 million. If Council is interested in exploring, we would come back to Council with more detailed options in May. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Next is an increase in the property tax mill levy cap. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The City currently caps the total mill levy by charter at 13 mils. Based on previous feedback that had concerns on raising the mill levy without also raising the mill levy cap, this option proposes increasing the mill levy cap to 15 mils or greater. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: It is important to note that Council does have the option to increase the mill levy and borrow against it for debt above the cap. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option diversifies potential flexible revenues, and significantly increases the amount of revenue that could be generated from a property tax increase, as we are currently restricted at 1.352 mils for a total increase. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This would increase revenues to sufficient levels and provide stable, ongoing funding for the city if the mill levy was increased in the future. It does not raise taxes and concerns a less regressive tax. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Increasing the cap by one mil increases ongoing potential revenue by approximately $5 million a year. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: And our final structural change combines the dedicated sales tax increments that currently fund the Open Space, Transportation, and Parks and Rec .25 Sales Tax Fund into one fund and expands its usage to provide more flexibility. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: This option does not raise taxes and increases flexibility, allowing for better capital project planning across the entire system, and increases the city's ability to leverage financing options.

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: And with that, we are on to our questions. I would like to reiterate that staff will be coming back in April to discuss the financial picture of city facilities and discuss unmet needs, and we will be thinking about how these options can help to support those unmet needs. And then, once again, we'll be coming back in May with a more narrowed listing based on your feedback. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Of particular importance in this feedback. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: is if Council has opinions on any preferred mechanisms of taxation to explore. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Thank you very much. Tara Winer: Okay, can I take it from here? Tara Winer: My number one question is, Scott, were you… was the pool named after you, or are you named after the pool? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: It's a very, it's very coincidental for me to be working in the city. Tara Winer: Just kidding. Okay, I'm gonna have a few guidelines, because I'm a little bit worried about this conversation, gang. So this is what I would like to do. Tara Winer: Our goal tonight is to narrow down the options 1 through 8 that staff gave us. Tara Winer: Tell us what the categories or types in this presentation you want to explore further, and tell us what is absolutely off the table for you. You do not have to comment on all 8 items. In fact, please don't. That's number one. Number two, if it's unclear where Council is leaning as a whole, we're going to do straw polls. Tara Winer: I'm gonna do my best. I'm determined to do well. Tara Winer: Next, if you have a rant, like I sometimes do, only allow yourself 60 seconds for that rant. For instance, I will give you an example. I can't believe we're considering property tax increases. That took, like, 10 seconds. So, consider a very short rant. Tara Winer: Next, if you feel like you must lecture us, or staff, then I only give you 30 seconds for that. Tara Winer: So, the goal is to let

Tara Winer: staff know where we're at, take a few straw polls if we need to, and I'm gonna leave with… we're gonna ask if anybody has any Tara Winer: clarifying questions, but remember for the questions, don't combine them with your comments, just questions only. And when I say that, I mean that for myself, too. I'm also chastising myself, so nobody take offense. Alright, here we go. Who has questions? Oh, look, hands are up already. We start with Rob. Robert Kaplan: Thank you for the, guidance, Tara. I appreciate that. And, Krista and Scott, thank you. This was a great report. Robert Kaplan: just questions right now for option 6, the general fund debt, authorization. Robert Kaplan: Would… if that were passed, would that free up funds from the CCRS? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: That would not, free up Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: it gives us options, I would say. It gives us capacity to, Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Finance, I don't know that that would free up dollars, but it does give us options. If we add debt to the general fund. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And we do debt finance, that is an additional cost that is not planned in our existing general fund, so there will need to be a trade-off or additional revenue offsetting that. Robert Kaplan: And that was my second question. If I read this correctly, that's roughly about $8 million a year. Robert Kaplan: What would need to be compromised to cover that debt service?

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I think that would be a conversation ahead, informed by, Fund Our Future conversations, informed by, maybe potential ballot measures if there's revenue opportunities. I think there is not an easy answer for that, Councilman, and I think that is a conversation that we would have to. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: really lean in on these community conversations in April. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: As we, formulate the fiscal year 2027 budget. Robert Kaplan: Okay. I will let my other council members ask some questions and sign off. Thank you. Tara Winer: Excellent questions, Rob. You get an A+. Okay, next we have Nicole. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thanks so much for the presentation, Krista. This was really… and Scott, it was really laid out well. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): A few questions. So, one is just a clarifying one on number, the first option around, if we were to flip some sales tax with property tax, under the transformational changes, is that revenue neutral on our end? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Yes, that's correct. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, cool. So really, we would just be changing those, kind of, the charts showing how people, who tend to be lower income are paying more, more into sales tax relatively, and people who have property are paying less into city revenue. So we're really just shifting. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): kind of who pays, not so much how much money we get. Is that right? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Yes, shifting who pays, and then also shifting to a more stable source of revenue. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, cool, thank you. And then my second question, second and third, are kind of tied together around polling. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): When… when we're polling, can we sometimes get different results from year to year?

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): like, I mean, the context of the world's pretty different than it was last year, for example, just for the things that we pulled last year, just wondering if we would expect they would be the same or potentially differ. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I would say, to your very point, the economy has changed, and the world is very different, so there is the potential we could see some change between the 2025 polling and 2026. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you. And then just one related question to remind myself on the public realm tax one we polled last year. We polled on the combination of expanding the use plus increasing. We never… did we ever poll just on expanding the use? Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): I couldn't remember. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): And sorry for not sending my, questions out in a long hotline beforehand. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: I would have to… we'd have to look back, at the survey and get back to you on that. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, cool, thank you. I was just, just trying to get some sense of what's different this year. And then… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): My other question is about this, debt, the option for general fund, debt financing. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): How does that impact our future financial flexibility? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Yeah, I think it… anytime you add debt, it is basically a fixed cost for a period of time. It does reduce flexibility, but it gives options. It gives options for, Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: making larger progress on a capital project, a large capital project, etc. So, it is a trade-off there. It will… it'll allow us to make, significant progress on large projects, but we are going to commit in a fixed cost that debt service for years to come.

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you. And I guess my other question in that area just relates to, you know, why we haven't done any kind of debt financing on the general fund before. And, I mean, when I think about our general fund, it's the one thing that we actually have some flexibility with. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Is it because it's adding some more constraints onto it that we haven't done it before? Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Or just, we haven't gotten? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We… the last time the General Fund issued debt was in 2012, so the General Fund currently just does not have any authorization or capacity to issue any more debt. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, so it's not that we haven't done it before, it's just that we haven't done it in the last decade or so. Okay, thank you. That's it for now. Tara Winer: Excellent questions, Nicole. You did not need to send a hotline. Tara Winer: Okay, next we have Matt. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: I appreciate that. Great presentation, and I'm looking forward to hearing about more of this sometime in the conversation. My question centers around Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Have we done any decent comparative analysis with other communities that are rapidly aging like ours, or in many ways, have already been more or less retirement communities for some time, and how they mix sales or property tax? Because one question really centers around, as our population ages. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: you also then run into a similar issue where you have many people that may be house-rich, cash-poor, and therefore the rising of property taxes doesn't really win us anything other than putting undue financial strain on our aging population, so really shifting burden to another group who can't afford it. And so, I'm just wondering if we've done that analysis, and if that assessment carries some weight with the trajectory we have with our demographics. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We have not done that particular kind of analysis, but we can certainly look into that in some of our peer cities, and bring that back forward. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: I appreciate that, because that'll give us a look forward, perhaps, to maybe where we're headed, and not fall down the trap of maybe what other communities have dealt with. Thank you.

Tara Winer: Any other questions? Tara Winer: That's it? Just one? Tara Winer: Fantastic. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Okay, we have Mark. Mark Wallach: Okay, Nicole, who are you thinking about with respect to long hotlines? Mark Wallach: Did you have someone? Tara Winer: Everybody's thinking about you. Ask your questions, I mean, we love you. Go. Mark Wallach: At the May meeting, Mark Wallach: Are we going to have the results of the Fund Our Future conversations? Mark Wallach: At that time, as we choose between various alternatives. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Yes, Councilman Wallach, we do have a consultant on board helping facilitate that with our office, along with, the communications and Engagement team, and we, he will be presenting back a report on, the collective feedback from those sessions. Mark Wallach: Okay, and are we going to do any polling in advance of that meeting? Mark Wallach: I mean, last time around, we thought we were gonna do a, Mark Wallach: one initiative that came back and polled in the 40s. We had to drop it. It would be nice to know in advance whether any of these are going to Mark Wallach: Pull well or not. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I don't think that's the plan to poll now. I think the goal would be to get your preliminary thoughts on these broad categories this evening. Are there any completely off the table, that, that staff should no longer pursue the research? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: But beyond that, I think May would be our refined list, starting to narrow that list of what you want to go to polling. Mark Wallach: And did you say that, Mark Wallach: taxing services is something that has not been done in Colorado previously? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: That is correct. Mark Wallach: Okay, and did you not…

Mark Wallach: Raise the issue with respect to the vacant home tax of a similar potential legal challenge. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I might defer to, Teresa, the City Attorney's Office. Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: Yeah, good evening. I… Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: I suppose I would not like to divulge my confidential legal advice in a public setting, but I would recommend that you look back to a confidential memo that was sent to you all previously. If you need access to that again, let me know. Mark Wallach: Okay, thank you. And… I think that's gonna do it for me for the moment. Tara Winer: Okay. Alright, thank you so much. Next, we have Ryan. Ryan Schuchard: Thank you. Ryan Schuchard: I have a few questions, for Krista and Scott. So, Ryan Schuchard: big picture, I'm trying to imagine the, the problem statement in terms of dollar amount that will… that we need to solve for, and then the… just a sense of the… the… Ryan Schuchard: how far to completion do some of these mid-range items get us? I know you had a slide before that talked about $380 million in capital backlog, but is there a way you can just speak to that generally, team, about Ryan Schuchard: Yeah, how much progress can we make towards our goal with one or more of these initiatives this year? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Well, that's, I will say our problem statement is complex. It is flattening and declining revenues. You'll get a, an update in May, from the budget team. Sales tax is flattening, if not declining, year over year.

Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: The high reliance on sales tax, as our highest revenue source and its volatility, as well as our high dedication, as you saw on that slide, the second highest in the region on a dedication of our revenue. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: That with our unfunded needs, I think that $380 million is Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: out of date, and that number has escalated, on our, capital, needs, as well as operating underfunded needs in the organization. So it is hard to put a number on that. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Today, I think you'll hear more from our facilities team with a more refined number on capital in April. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: So, I think the mid… Scott has the breakdown on the individual slides on dollar amounts, but really, each of these items, they make progress. Capital items such as Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: The public realm tax, if we have debt authority with that. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Give us an opportunity to make greater progress in those areas of capital needs, because we can finance that. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I think that is… I'm not sure, Chris, if you have anything you would add to that? Chris Meschuk: Yeah, maybe one other thought, because I think, Ryan, you're asking a really interesting question. And I think the one thing I would add to what Krista already said is. Chris Meschuk: The ballot measure spectrum that we offered pulls on different levers, too, so depending on where you want to focus. Chris Meschuk: it changes our, kind of, what does that get us in terms of making progress? So, I think tonight, what we're… what we're looking for is just that rough directionality of.

Chris Meschuk: yeah, we think you should… should… we agree with the staff recommendation, or no, we think you should only zero in on these types of ballot measures. And then in April and May, we can start to refine that for you. Chris Meschuk: And then I think we might be able to give you a better, more accurate answer to your question of, kind of, how do we frame it in that way, because I think the way you're asking it is a really good way. Ryan Schuchard: Great, thank you, and I'm sorry to ask an interesting question on the spot like this. Chris Meschuk: No, it was good. Ryan Schuchard: And yeah, the point, the point is just, you know, being able to have a conversation with our community about, yeah, what it looks like to not have to keep coming back each year, and, you know, what the end is. Okay, I'll keep going, just have a couple more. So, speaking of Marks, Ryan Schuchard: eloquent hotline. He, one of the things he asked about was cost containment, and, is there any chance that we have a way now, or would expect in the near future, to have any, I don't know, any story about, about, Ryan Schuchard: successes we've had, or maybe expect to have, with respect to cost containment? Or is it just, like, stay tuned, and, you know, that's my question. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Scott, is that something you might, talk about the recent budget year and some of the strategies around cost, cost containment? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Sure. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: So, for the 2026 budget, we actually did a significant amount of cost containment by… through budget reductions, and we did a lot of those budget reductions through the lens of budgeting for resilience and equity, also known as outcome-based budgeting. We prioritized funding for… for programs that were performing well and reduced funding, Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: or cut funding entirely for programs that were duplicative or were not performing well. I wish I had the numbers off the top of my head for how much we reduced. We could certainly get that back to you. And I think…

Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We will continue to kind of use that frame of decision-making for the budget going forward, and we should also get some good information from the Fund Our Future conversations on trade-offs that will allow us to think through that lens in the future. Ryan Schuchard: Super, okay, yeah, I look forward, if that becomes available, to seeing in inventory, or whatever, some kind of explanation of what we're seeing. Ryan Schuchard: Great. Okay, and then, on the transformational side of things, I think I have two questions and then I'm done. Sales tax, for services, that concept. Ryan Schuchard: Is there any, thinking that's been done, or maybe you could do now, on, ways to focus that on Sundance, such that we would be pricing for services that are specific to, or I guess, like, oriented to Sundance. Ryan Schuchard: Either in terms of, like, the kinds of services, or the time, you know, like, literally the tax for that period of time with Sundance is here. Is there any opportunity around that? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: I can take that one. There is, somewhat of an opportunity to do that, so we do have the ability to do broader categories of taxation on services, so one of those categories could be recreation and amusement. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: we would have to spend some time on doing some additional analysis on what that would look like. The other thing I would like to add is that the city does have an admissions tax, it's a 5% admissions tax, and that is for events that are not free to the public, and so that will, Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: fall on a lot of the venues for Sundance.

Ryan Schuchard: Okay. Okay, thanks. And then my last one is, Nicole talked about, the matter of revenue neutral, if we do this sort of property tax, sales tax swap thing, with respect to revenue to the city. Is there, by chance, Ryan Schuchard: A way to think about, a method to do that that would have… Minimal impact on, Ryan Schuchard: those who are paying in, in terms of their net… the net expense that they're receiving from… from tax… from taxes, at least from a, like, median, middle-ish income, kind of on down? Like, is there a way to think about that, or is it just simply too complex, people's different situations? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We can, take a stab at doing that kind of analysis and modeling different household incomes and, and household sizes. I think, and then come back with that information in the future. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: The… while everybody across the spectrum of income could potentially be a homeowner or might be a homeowner, I think the assumption is that those within the community that are at or below area median income are more likely to be renters, and therefore would be less negatively impacted by a property tax increase. Ryan Schuchard: Okay. Okay, thank you. Tara Winer: Thanks, Ryan. Scott, I have a quick question that has to do with what Ryan said. Really good point about a story that we're trying to tell. Tara Winer: Can you give… can you get us information on what you did actually reduce or eliminate, so we can… because I think a lot of community members don't really think the city does that, and I would like to prove them otherwise. So I think that would be a really good story. Tara Winer: Okay, let's move on. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Tara, I had a question that was really related to what, Ryan just asked. Tara Winer: So you're colloquine? Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): kind of a colloquy, but I know we're thinking about moving away from that.

Tara Winer: I just… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): What works? Tara Winer: Truth be told, I just call and read. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Okay, but no, it's really a very similar question. Like, if this is really revenue neutral, right, sales tax, property tax, then presumably the average income household would have kind of a neutral experience in moving more to property tax than that. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Is that right? I mean, it seems like the wealthier households who are benefiting the most from this disproportionate system we have now. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): they would be the ones, who… who would, kind of be impacted the most, not… not necessarily the, the people who are, how did you phrase it, Matt? The… the house-rich, cash-poor? It would be the people who are house-rich. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Cash rich. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Who would… who would kind of see the biggest impact? Is that… am I thinking about that the right way? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Yes, that is our, assumption in that, Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: If you look at it from the lens of a $1 million in residential property, that person would pay $85 more per year in property tax, while somebody who doesn't own a home, would be paying less sales tax, on… for the full year. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): But even that person who's paying a million dollars would… they would presumably have a reduction in… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): sales tax, too. Or, sorry, who's paying property tax on a million dollar home, they would also have a reduction in sales tax, correct? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: That's correct. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: There we go. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Oh, sorry. Tara Winer: Yeah. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I, I just want to go back to some questions that were, that were asked, and maybe just for clarification about, sales tax. While we know that, sales tax on services, on all services, hasn't been done in Colorado, there are some Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): municipalities that have done sales tax on certain categories, so…

Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): we haven't thought about… for example, if we wanted to do sales tax on luxury services, or the kind that you were speaking to, Councilmember Schuard, that is something that could be considered as we're… as we're thinking about if Council wanted. We just haven't, had a deep dive into that. What I think is a little bit more difficult, and I wouldn't know if that was even legal, I… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): believe… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): TABOR may limit us is, perhaps the suggestion of limiting that amount of taxation to a certain time period, like for a time of Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): festival, be that what it… whatever that would be. So I just would be a little more thoughtful if you all wanted that, to think about, what level of taxation and a time period that is broader than that. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Teresa, did I get any of that wrong, or… Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: No, ma'am, you're right on target. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Thank you. Tara Winer: Okay, before we go on to Tina, I'm just going to make an announcement that if I was pushing everybody too hard, I'm gonna give all of those that still have a question after they ask their first question an opportunity to ask a second one. Tara Winer: I'm gonna transform myself into nicer Tara, starting now. Okay, Tina, go. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yeah, and first I'll just, I'd like to follow up with what Nuria said. During Sundance, if a business rents their space to a corporation, do we tax that transaction? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Could you say that one more time? Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Sure. So if… so let's say the city owned a building, and we… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): rented it to a company to have a space for Sundance for the duration. Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: and they.

Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): they paid us money through a contract. What is the taxing on that transaction, if any? Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: I can help Scott, if you don't mind. So, leases are not, Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: Property leases are not taxable, it would be redundant of a property tax. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Even though it was… it's… well, it's… I don't know if it's a lease, or just a… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): It's a… it's a 5-day venue rental. Is it a lease or a venue rental? Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: Either way. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): So even if you rent a venue, you wouldn't have a tax. Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: I don't believe so. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: for a day. Teresa Taylor Tate, City Attorney: Can you look into that and find out. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): That just prompted that question. So my question is, when we do the polling, will we include any of the state-level ballot initiatives, specifically the graduated income tax, to see how it plays with other taxes in our polling? Chris Meschuk: Chris, I'm not sure if that… I'm not sure how that's been handled in the past. Sure, I'm happy to provide a little, in the past, when we've had a clear understanding of what might be on a ballot from the county or the state, we have sometimes included those questions. Chris Meschuk: As a part of the polling. So I think it'll just depend a little bit on how firm or not firm other potential ballot measures from other levels that the state, Chris Meschuk: are at, and then we can figure out if we want to include that. A lot of times, our pollsters will give us really good advice on whether that'll influence or not influence the poll results and give us some guidance on whether to include it. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay, that's helpful, just because I'd love to understand, for instance, if an RTD sales tax were to be presented, and we were trying to reduce sales tax, it might be…

Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): a challenging narrative to our community to explain why their sales tax went up, even though we just tried to bring it down. Because it's pretty difficult to see beyond the numbers there. So, Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): So that's great, thank you. Tara Winer: That's it, Tina? Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yeah, that's nice. Tara Winer: All right, thank you so much. Erin, you're next. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Thanks. So in the question about whether we would authorize bonding for the general fund, if we move forward with that, would we specify a specific number? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Mayor, we would want to specify a specific number and limit on the capacity of that debt issuance. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Right, so that would be our taper measure, in other words, to say we would then be authorized to bond to up to a certain figure from that election. Is that correct? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Yes, that's correct. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Great, and what… if we, green light that, to evaluate, what process would you use to determine what number we might ask for? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: I think, we would attempt to model, some different scenarios for you all and bring those back forward, in May, and then get your feedback, to help inform that. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Sounds good. Thank you. Tara Winer: Is that it, Aaron? Tara Winer: Okay, it looks like we have Mark asking another question, which is great, but Mark and Rob, which is also great, and Nicole, great. I am going to ask a few questions first. Tara Winer: And if they were already asked, forgive me, because it's not the easiest to, do two things at once, or just tell me it was asked and answered, and I won't feel hurt, I promise. Okay, here we go. I have a few questions. On slide 8,

Tara Winer: Could you… it said for every dollar of property tax collected, the city receives only 12 cents, so can you explain, like, why one would want to do a property tax if we only get 12 cents on the dollar, or am I misunderstanding it? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Yeah, I'll start here, and Scott, please, please jump in as well. So, property tax is a very stable source of revenue, compared to a sales tax, which is… has a lot of volatility around economic conditions. Tara Winer: Hmm. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: So I think that is, one of the driving reasons, so we don't have that level of volatility, so we can maintain consistent service levels with reliable funding. Tara Winer: So, if we only get 12 cents on the dollar, who gets… are we then increasing the amount that the people who get the rest of the dollar get? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: No, we would be, so right now, if you think about it, the total, the total mill levy that somebody on average Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: receives in Boulder is around 95-96 mils. Our portion of that is a little bit less than 12 mils, so that's the 12-13%. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: If we increased it up to the max, our share would go up to 13, 14, 15%, but we would raise an additional $7 million per year. So that's a pretty significant increase, to our total property tax, which is coming in around $60 million a year, so it's a over 10% increase. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Tara, can I… Tara, can I add in here? Tara Winer: Yeah! Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): If we raise the property tax, we'll get 100% of the increase in the property tax. That's the answer, thank you. There you go, yeah. Yeah. Okay, next question.

Tara Winer: On one of the slides, it said, or somebody said, why do… that businesses would be paying… we would be paying something like 3 times the amount on property tax. So, I know that this happened also on the library, the library tax. Can you explain why we have to increase it for small businesses 3 times? Tara Winer: The amount of everybody else? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: That, the assessment rate is controlled at the state level, so right now, residential properties, pay between 6% and 7% assessment rate. Tara Winer: Hmm. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Their commercial properties are paying 26.27%. Okay. So that, that's really the, the, the, the why. Tara Winer: I see, so it affects businesses more. Okay, next question. If we… Tara Winer: Slide 22. So I wrote all these ahead of time, so I would be able to focus better. If we expand the usage only. Tara Winer: Would that be enough? Tara Winer: To pay for Tara Winer: an operating cost of a new pool at the rec center. So, just the oper… so, just expanding the usage on slide 22, Tara Winer: would… could that pay for the yearly operating costs of a new pool at the South Pole Direct Center? Or do you just need time to work out the numbers, which is fine? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I think that is something we can, we can have ready for discussion in April when we're talking about the overall facilities plan. I don't have the detail this evening of the full operating costs unless our Parks and Rec Director, I see, popped up, wants to cover anything different there. Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: Well, I was just gonna point out, and I just want to clarify, your Councilmember, or Mayor Pro Tem, you're talking about on slide 22, the… if you were just to… Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: dededicate the tax a little bit, is that accurate? Is that your question? Tara Winer: So, do you know how we talked about, having the Permanent Parks and Rec Fund be for… Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: Absolutely. Tara Winer: operations, yeah, that.

Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: So, so if it were expanded in use, right now, folks, I'm Allie Rhodes, I serve as Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Boulder. Right now, Perm Parks is limited to acquisition or improvement of parkland. It cannot be used to operate the pool. So if you expand the pool. Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: or expand its use. Yes, it could be used to fund operations. However, I would just note that would come at a trade-off of something else, because there is Ali Rhodes, City of Boulder she/her: a funding deficit, as folks have heard, we're fiscally constrained, and so it's not like there's extra money laying around there that could support operations. It would come at a trade-off of capital refurbishment. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Okay, so the same slide. Tara Winer: If we did a public realm tax levy increase, and by the way, my hotline was… landed like cold potatoes, nobody was excited about that, which is good to know, but if we did it. Tara Winer: would it be possible to ask, like, instead of, like, like, half of what we asked for? So, instead of a 1.4% increase, like, a 0.7% increase, so it wouldn't be such a burden to people and businesses, is it… Tara Winer: Can I ask Council if they want to pull that as well, or is that, like, off the table and too many options? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: We have the ability, for a property tax increase, anywhere between 0 and 1.352 mils, so you could… you could pull on half of that. You could prefer to do to less than that number. It would just come at a cost of… of increasing revenue. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: less revenue. And if you… Attachment B on the memo will tell you how much a mill Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Increment will… will get you. Tara Winer: Thanks for working with me on that. Okay, and two more questions. On slide 23, the residential vacancy tax. Can we use that money that we would get for cross-departmental reasons?

Tara Winer: Or do we have to use it for a specific reason? Tara Winer: Not a specific department. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: If that, staff's recommendation would be for that not to be a dedicated tax, and to use that for general purposes? Tara Winer: Okay, great. And lastly, slide 27, I guess what I'm worried about is, how do I know, let's say that we unbundled Tara Winer: I guess that might be, or might not be the right word. If we… let's say we decided to do the public realm, tax instead of all the separate Tara Winer: sales tax, dedicated sales taxes. How do… how do… how would I know, like, the money would be used at least for parks… at least 25 cents for parks and Rec? Let's say, as an example, Tara Winer: You know what I mean? Like, how could we tell the community, don't worry, we know we care about what you want, we know what you want, because that's something that I would be worried about. So, I think staff Tara Winer: I heard an answer earlier in one of my discussions. I'm wondering if somebody could say that again. This one was a good one. Tara Winer: Do you remember? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I'll… I'll start. I will say there is an annual budget process, so this is transparent information. If they get, if, we end up with Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: not the individual dedications. We are going to be sharing every year how much is being presented in the city manager's submitted budget for parks and Recreation, for capital, for open space. There is full transparency in that process. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I'm not sure, Chris, if there's anything you wish to add there? Tara Winer: Is that no? He doesn't wish to add anything? Chris Meschuk: No, I think Krista covered it, it was good.

Tara Winer: Okay, great. All right, I'm done with my questions. Thanks, everybody, for being so patient. Next, we have the next bout of, Tara Winer: The next bunch of questions, first Mark. Mark Wallach: Just one quick supplemental question. When we come back and discuss this further, will we be presented with a set of assumptions with respect to debt issuance, what it would look like? Mark Wallach: As a charge against the general fund, given this number or that number, and assuming this interest rate or that interest rate. Mark Wallach: I think it's important for us to understand what burden we're going to be placing on the general fund if we go in that direction. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Yes, Councilman Wallach, we can come forward with, the model and the basis for the recommendation of how much debt capacity Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: From a financial perspective, we would be recommending, City Council consider for, also considering the health, financial health of the organization, too. Mark Wallach: And I look forward to getting that information. Thank you so much. Tara Winer: Great. Okay, Rob. Tara Winer: Do you still have a question, Rob? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): You are muted. Robert Kaplan: Sorry. Robert Kaplan: I knew I was gonna do it sooner or later. Also question on the bonding. Once you determine the max debt capacity that the city would, bond against the general fund. Robert Kaplan: One question is, you can use that as needed. You don't need to obviously use that whole capacity at once. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: That's… I see you're shaking your head yes. Yes. Robert Kaplan: Sorry, yeah, I couldn't… Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I might un… Robert Kaplan: No, that's all you have to do, is shake your head yes. And then…

Robert Kaplan: I would like to see, if you could provide for, like, Fire Station 2 and 4, South Boulder Rec Center, East Boulder Rec, all the rec centers, everything else that, you know, we're gonna identify, as big capital expenditures, what the trade-off is… Robert Kaplan: for, let's say, I'm just shooting from the hip here, a 7% interest rate. Robert Kaplan: versus the cost of labor and materials rising faster than that year over year, and does it make sense, you know, time is money, to use that right now, and then spread that over the course of… I'm guessing this is like a… I can't remember where it was, a 30-year bond. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: Yeah, thank you for the question, Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: In April, you will see coming forth the current, CCRS adopted capital plan. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And including in that is, assumptions of, in the past plan, some debt financing. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: With the capacity approved, Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And we'll be bringing forward, we can speak on specific models of Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: if we were to finance a particular project, A, what capacity we currently have, if we add more, and show various scenarios there. Robert Kaplan: Okay, that would be great. Thank you. Tara Winer: Well, we are doing great. There looks like there's no more questions, and so we're going to go to the next part, the hard part, and that is somehow coalescing around what we think staff should focus on, and what we think they shouldn't focus on. Tara Winer: So I thought, and tell me what you think of this, Nuria slash Mark slash Chris, if I did a straw poll first to ask if anyone's interested in

Tara Winer: doing any further work this year on the transformational taxes. Do you think that's a good idea, or should I not do that? What do you suggest we go? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I think that'd be great. Tara Winer: Okay, so we're gonna have our first straw poll. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Tara, can we talk about it first? When do I get to comment? Tara Winer: Whoa! Tara Winer: Yes, well, this is what I thought we would do. Tara Winer: is we're going to have a straw poll on transformational. I have something to say on it as well. So, what I want to do is, let's just start with transformational, and do your comments, and then we'll have a straw… only comment if you have an opinion, though. Tara Winer: Okay, and then… because I do, I'll have a short comment. And then we'll take a straw poll after we've discussed the transformational, because I think that'll be the shortest part, and the longest part will be the next two, where we'll probably have the most opinions and do the most talking. Tara Winer: So, who… raise your hand if you want to talk about transformational, and we'll start with Nicole. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Great, thank you. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): So for me, I just… I wanted to make a comment about this, revenue neutral, moving some sales tax to, the property tax. It actually doesn't seem transformational to me. It actually seems like the logical outcome of the long-term financial strategy. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): And the guiding principles that we agreed to years ago, and that we have affirmed, over the last year or two as well. It's basically a modest, revenue-neutral rebalancing. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): in exactly the kind of incremental, principle-driven adjustment that the long-term financial strategy is guiding us toward. I'd really like to, consider it, not necessarily for, like, drafting a ballot measure for right now, but I would love for us to get some data, along the lines of what we were talking about. So, if we, for example, looking at impacts on different, demographic groups and socioeconomic

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): households. For example, looking at homeowning retirees at low, middle, and high incomes. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): what would the net impact be from this change of moving from sales tax, moving… and not all, right? We're not talking about getting rid of sales tax, but to move some sales tax over to property tax, what would that impact be? Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): what would the impact be for workers or renters at low, middle, and high, earnings? I think that that is a good way for us to get some data to inform that decision, because when I read about this one in particular, it really just follows the long-term financial strategy guiding principles. It's revenue neutral. In theory. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): The people who are going to be the most impacted are wealthy homeowners. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Who can afford, to pay a little bit more, and are benefiting disproportionately from the way that our current revenue structure is sourced, where they are paying the least percentage of their income to sales tax. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): And really not… not too much of a difference in terms of property tax. Like, those graphs in our packet were striking in terms of the inequity that we have with our current model. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): I would love to, like, not saying tonight that we, you know, are committing, because we can't vote anyway, but I would really love to gather some more data on this, because I actually don't think it's transformational. I think it's just following our long-term financial strategy. Tara Winer: So, are you saying that you want this Tara Winer: For 2026 ballot measure, and you want to poll it, or are you saying you want staff to look into it for the. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Are we… are we… are we giving feedback on polling tonight? Sorry, I thought. Tara Winer: Well, I think, tell me if I'm wrong, Nuria, that they do want some feedback, because we can't pull everything. Tara Winer: That's what I hear. So, we have to narrow down our polling. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): So we have two questions, right? One is…

Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): do you have feedback on the general spectrum? And I think that goes to the questions that you were just, posing, Councilmember Spear. But your second question is precisely what you say, Mayor Pro Tem, which is, we really want to narrow in on what do you want us to focus on in 2026, because we cannot poll on all. So, if you want us to… from all… if you have feedback on all Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): the spectrum of what we have, and want us to continue to look at it, even though it may not be for 2026, please let us know that. But then we have to narrow down to what's going to happen, or what you want us to really focus on for this year, because it can't come all on the ballot. Does that make sense? Tara Winer: Yep. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Yeah, yeah, it does, yeah. Yeah, and so, I mean, in this case, I actually would like for us to look at this for 2026. I think that sales tax is going to continue to be a bit volatile, and I think it would be really a good thing for us to look at sooner than later. Tara Winer: So you want. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): If you don't like it, if the voters don't like it when we pull it, fine, right? Tara Winer: Okay, Brian. Ryan Schuchard: Thank you. Yeah, I have a similar view. So, you know, we have extreme levels of dedicated funding, extreme reliance on sales tax, a backlog of deferred maintenance, and we have a long-term financial strategies group Ryan Schuchard: Who's been tasked to try to improve our balance sheet, and put us in a position of being able to be proactive about making good investments. Ryan Schuchard: I'm a little surprised that we're not, I guess, in some ways further along by this point in saying, what are some structural changes we can make to improve this situation? So. Ryan Schuchard: I agree, we should, be continuing to do the work on the property tax slash sales tax swap. I think…

Ryan Schuchard: you know, in addition to some of the things Nicole said, there's some more advantages. You know, I do think the case of the senior who has a $1 million plus home, and they've got fixed income is important. They also have benefits, you know, because they're going to have reduced sales tax. Ryan Schuchard: There's benefits to the local economy, to, you know, reducing that cost. And there are, in principle, ways, programmatic ways, to help seniors and others Ryan Schuchard: with, expensive homes to find renters, to live with them, do co-housing, do ADUs, you know, and so on and so forth. Ryan Schuchard: So, I think we should be exploring this, again, towards this big goal of improving our balance sheet that is becoming quite pressing. Ryan Schuchard: I also think we should be looking at the sales tax for services, especially with Sundance, and exploring, can we do something that really focuses on the visitors and the business coming to Sundance that would, you know, provide a real focus with respect to revenue from that group. Tara Winer: Okay, so you want to poll both, is that what you're saying? Ryan Schuchard: Pull, or at least move both… Ryan Schuchard: Continue to explore both. I think, yeah. Tara Winer: Okay, alright, Tina. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yeah, just kind of following up on my prior comment, if we do want to look at this change in the balance between property and sales tax. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): I think we might want to consider, in a different format, making a statement about whether or not, in general, we support sales tax from other entities as well. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): So we have supported sales taxes historically. It's one of the easiest things to pass, and we might see that with early childcare, we might see it with RTD, which are things we deeply care about. But I don't… I think we need to have a discussion about Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): do we have a strategy that just moves away from sales tax? So, that's it.

Tara Winer: So, what are you saying about, transformational? Would you like to see them polled this year, either one, or no? Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Sure, but I do think we need to have consistency. I don't think we should embark on it, and then… Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Increase sales tax different ways. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And it may not be in our control, but we need to be realistic with our community. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Great, thanks. Mark? Mark Wallach: Sorry. Mark Wallach: Here's where I would come down on these things. I would like to poll on the bonding measure. I think that is a significant amount of money, and if we get a sense that the community will support it, I'd like to go in that direction. Tara Winer: Wait, hold on, Mark. We're only doing transformational, and then we'll do the rest after this. Mark Wallach: Okay, which ones are transformational? The, sales tax? Tara Winer: The very… at the very… does… do you want to put it up to show the transformational, in case… Mark Wallach: very helpful. Tara Winer: I'll pull that up, that slide. Mark Wallach: That would be very useful. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Yeah, clearly. Tara Winer: I needed… Tara Winer: And then everybody will do their big thing, their big… That's Tara Winer: Scott, as you're looking for that, I just wanna… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): make sure that we're being thoughtful about staff capacity to analyze all of the items. We're not gonna be able to do all 8, and so… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Thinking about that. Tara Winer: Okay, well, maybe what we'll do is, after we pull Transformational, and then we pull the others, we can re-poll everything, and you tell us how many. Tara Winer: You want to pull. Tara Winer: So we know how to bring it back down. Mark Wallach: Mayor Pro Tem, which ones were transformational? Tara Winer: Well, Scott's gonna put it up, are you not? Mark Wallach: I can look on my slides. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): I haven't even true. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Sorry, I'm just having… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): They all's turn. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Technical difficulties. One second. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Okay.

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): I can see he's looking for it. Services on sales tax, and the revenue neutral switching from some sales tax to, property tax, but revenue neutral. Tara Winer: Yes. Mark Wallach: Okay, I'm. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Can I ask a question, a process question? Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Is there… is there a preferred number of things to pull on? Are we heading in direction? Tara Winer: Nuria? Chris Meschuk: Yeah, maybe I'll… I'll jump in. I think we're… we're not at the polling conversation yet. That's really for you in May. Chris Meschuk: what we're really looking for tonight is the three category buckets. Transformational, mid-range, and structural. Where of those three buckets do you want us to focus? On all of them? On 2 of them? Or only on one of them? Chris Meschuk: And then, in May, we can… April and May, we can bring more specific types of ballot measures within those. Then you'll decide on what to poll. We'll do the polling, and then you'll get the results of that in June. So… so I would encourage you to kind of think about it in terms of these big category buckets for tonight. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): But I… I want to say, Chris, and I think that's right, and Krista, you'll have to… you'll have to be thinking about this and be honest about capacity, because if we put all of these on the table, I think you have limited capacity to take a deep dive into all of them. Chris Meschuk: Yeah. Tara Winer: Okay, we'll try to narrow it down tonight. All right, Mark, transformational. Mark Wallach: Mayor Pro Tem, since they're all up here, can I… Tara Winer: not just go through them and tell you… But then everybody else who I did… let's just quickly do trans… I thought transformational. Mark Wallach: Okay, on transformational, I think, the sales tax on services is an interesting concept, but I doubt it's a 2026 concept. Tara Winer: Perfect. Mark Wallach: It's too much. Tara Winer: That's where I want. Perfect.

Mark Wallach: And on the increase of property tax, I have the same concern that my colleague Matt Benjamin has. We need to understand the impact on people who are house-rich and cash poor, and until we understand… I don't mind if we poll it, but… Mark Wallach: I'm not sure we're going to get the kind of response that we would hope for. Tara Winer: Okay, so let's do the rest really quickly. I think this is not exactly working like I visualized, but let's just… I'll just quickly say, for instance, for transformational, I'm interested in sales tax on services just because of Sundance, but I'm not interested in doing the increased property tax, decreased sales tax for 2026. Okay, that's what I meant, like, something fast like that. Okay, next we have math. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Appreciate it. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: to Chris's point, I think everyone's gonna find at least one thing that they like in each of these three categories, so I'm worried we're gonna still end up with 8 things to pull and not get anywhere, so I'm a little worried we're gonna… we're gonna be here a little while down-selecting. I mean, it would have started with, what do we get rid of first, and then have what's left, but that… that's a different story. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Regarding the transformational, I'm gonna say that just given that we are gonna be limited to only a few things, this might be nice to have at some point here soon, but I think there's others that are more critical for us to assess, given we're likely only going to pull a couple things, and so I would leave these items off Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: of that going forward, but I think we need to continue to assess them further at a later date, but maybe not quite ripe for 26, because I think there's some more imminent things that we need to be thinking about. And I'll get to explaining those in a minute when we move to the other segments, but I'd like to leave other transformational aside for now. Tara Winer: Perfect. Okay, now we're gonna have, Rob.

Robert Kaplan: I agree with, what Matt said. I think there's some potential in the sales tax for service that can be studied. I just don't want to be pushing services out. I don't think anybody is, economically. But, Robert Kaplan: for Sundance, there's potential. And I think there's just a lot more research to do with the increased property tax and decreased sales tax for this ballot measure. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Nuria, do you think I should just move on, or should I poll Transformational? Tara Winer: Your call. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I think that'd be great, so that we can think about whether or not that's. Tara Winer: What would be great? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): People wouldn't think about. Tara Winer: Juliana… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): you to go down that line. Tara Winer: So keep going and don't poll yet? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): No, I think it would be great to hear from everyone on what they think of the transformational. Tara Winer: Okay, super. All right, I'm gonna keep going then. Erin? Wait, Tina, did you speak already? I can't remember. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): I did, but I just want to clarify, we can vote as many times as we want, right? We're not doing trade-offs. Tara Winer: We're not. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I just want to say we're not voting, because we don't vote here, right? Tara Winer: just… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Getting your perspective. Tara Winer: Yeah. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I'm channeling Teresa. Tara Winer: Alright, now we have Aaron. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): But we can opine early and often if we desire. I'll just agree with the staff recommendation in terms of not tackling the transformative things, although agree with Nicole and Ryan, I'd be interested in some polling at some point about the property tax sales tax spot. Thanks. Tara Winer: Okay, so now we heard from everybody that wants to speak, because I don't see any other hands. Tara Winer: Oh, do you need more than this, Nuria, or should I move on? Tara Winer: Do you want me to pull Transformational now? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): If we have heard from everyone. Tara Winer: Well, I don't… I don't think we have. Who hasn't spoken? I think Taisha hasn't spoken yet. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Can we just poll it? Because we're… I think we just need to… Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Sure. And then give staff some certainty, and then we can continue on.

Taishya Adams: Okie doke, let's just pull it then. Hold on one second. Although I appreciate the sense of urgency, I just want to take a moment for our facilitator and thank her. Taishya Adams: for making sure that everybody is spoken. That is the responsibility of a great facilitator. So thank you for that. I don't have anything, and you know if I did, I would have said something, but I do appreciate that you just double-checked, because everything that I have to say has already been said. Thank you. Tara Winer: You're right, I love that. See, everything she had to say has already been said. Thank you for not saying it again, I appreciate you. All right, we are going to move on to this poll, which we're going to do quickly. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Are you pulling on the, like. Tara Winer: transformation. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): All together, or each one individually? Tara Winer: That's a great question, you know, polling is my weakness, so I'm going to look to staff to tell me how Tara Winer: Of course, I had to get the study session with the most polling ever, whatever. Staff, how would you like me to poll this? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): We had originally thought that we would look for categories. Tara Winer: to see. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): if there are categories that you would like us to look at further. Certainly defer to you if there are individual items that you would like to look at, but it would be, what we were originally hoping is that we would get categories. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I don't even know what that means. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): We were looking, do you want us to take a deep dive to transformational, or keep that in the long-term financial strategy as future options, and not for 2026? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): If somebody felt like there was a particular item that you wanted us to look at, maybe not one, but two, then certainly somebody could say that, but we were looking right now for entire categories on whether or not you wanted us to look at that for 2026, or whether you wanted us to keep that on the table as part of our long-term financial strategy. Tara Winer: Okay, everybody that wants… Yes, go.

Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Because I didn't speak on the sales tax on services, which I actually, I love that idea, but I don't know that that's a 2026 one. Like, for me to be the first in the state doing something, that feels like something that we can't necessarily pull together in a couple months. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): And I would still make a plug for the, revenue-neutral switching of some property tax, or sales tax to property tax, is… I consider that structural. Tara Winer: Okay, okay. So, we're gonna go like this. You can see… we're still gonna keep it in the transformational category, even though you'd like to move it, okay? And we're gonna take a straw poll right now. Who wants to do a deeper dive in the transformational category? Tara Winer: Now, how… For 2026, for 2026. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Even if there's only one that I… Tara Winer: Merry Christmas! Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Tim, I think Councilmember Spear was, suggesting that she has a thought that the number 2, the increase in property tax, she would like to straw individually. Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Is that correct? Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you, yes. Tara Winer: Okay, everybody that wants to do Transformational this year. Tara Winer: Raise your hand. And I can't see the hands for some reason, I don't know. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Specifically, the… Tara Winer: one. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): tax flip. Tara Winer: Number two. Tara Winer: Yeah. In this chart that I'm looking at. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Increase property tax, decrease sales tax, revenue neutral. Tara Winer: That is number 2, right there, transformational number 2. Tara Winer: And for some reason, I can't see anybody. Wait, let me see why. Tara Winer: Can somebody take that poll for me? Because… Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): I'm counting 4 hands. Tara Winer: Thank you. 4. Okay, 4. Everybody that wants… Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): birthday present? Tara Winer: Okay, no, no, none of that. Tara Winer: Everybody that wants to do Number one, transportation, number one. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Tara? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): So… Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Can we have the yeses and the nos, just to make sure we see the right number of hands? Tara Winer: We're digging back. We're starting again.

Tara Winer: Gosh, I don't like to do throubles. We're starting again. Transformational number two. Yeses, raise your hand. Tara Winer: Number two is increased property tax, decreased sales tax. How many, Aaron, is that? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): I count, I count 4. Tara Winer: Okay, no's on that, raise your hand. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): And I count 5. Tara Winer: Okay, next, transformational, number one, sales tax on services. Raise your hand. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): 2. Tara Winer: Okay, then that's also a no. So, staff wins the day, we're not going to do transformational this year. Tara Winer: But we are going to look into it for the future. Next, we now have the… let's do the mid-range, shall we? Tara Winer: And let's do it the same way. Tara Winer: If you want residential vacancy excise tax number 5, I'm not going in order, I'm going backwards. Tara Winer: For this year, raise your hand. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): I think Ryan has a clarifying question. Tara Winer: Go, Ryan. Ryan Schuchard: Thank you, Aaron. Are we gonna do comments on the category here, like we did on the previous one? Was that the process? Tara Winer: Well, I'm a little worried about how long it's all gonna take, but how about this? Tara Winer: Is that what you would like to do, Ryan? Ryan Schuchard: I'm actually trying to see if I had something for this category, but I just… Ryan Schuchard: I wanted to ask, yeah, if we should people… I got the impression of this one. Taishya Adams: by item. Ryan Schuchard: So I just wanted to ask on behalf of the group. Tara Winer: Side-by-side speaker… gallery. I gotta get the gallery up there. There! I finally did it, I got gallery up there. Yay me. Taisha, did you say something? Taishya Adams: I was asking, point of clarification if we were just gonna… if we were gonna go number by number and not by the whole group, like we did in the previous… Tara Winer: We could do a straw poll on that. I pers… go ahead, Erin.

Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Do you mind if I make a suggestion, Tara? Please, please. Maybe you could solicit quick comments on the category of mid-range, and people could address the things they most care about after. Tara Winer: Great idea. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): After people make quick comments, you could straw poll each individually so that there's clarity. Tara Winer: I love that idea. Tara Winer: Let's do it. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Comments on the, on the red color. Tara Winer: Who has comments on mid-range? Tara Winer: All right, Mark. Mark Wallach: Okay, I think residential vacancy is too little money for too much work, and is not going to be productive for us. You're only getting $1 to $2 million before the cost of, enforcement. I don't think that makes sense. The, number 4, the public realm mill levy. Mark Wallach: If we expand the definitions, of what money can be used for, I think that's… Ryan Schuchard: going to be very beneficial, and I would support that. Mark Wallach: And the general purpose is mill levy. Mark Wallach: If we want to poll it, I'm okay, but I don't think we're going to get a very good response to that, so basically I would say no to that. Mark Wallach: We can always poll. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Next is Nicole. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Yes, I agree with Mark, on these. I'm not so interested in the residential vacancy, Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): I think the general purposes mill levy would be hard for people without some sort of corresponding decrease in another tax somewhere. I would be very interested in the polling for the public realm mill levy. If we were to do that, if we just expand the definition. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): As well as if we expand the definition and increase. So, kind of like last year, and then just do a subset of that, so we're only changing one thing this year. Tara Winer: Okay. Matt.

Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Of the three in this category, I'm interested in the vacancy tax for a simple reason. Yeah, I mean, we might say 1 to 2 million dollars isn't that much money. That's the entire budget of our snow plowing operations for a year. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: $1.5 million. So, we might say it's not a lot of money, but that's an entire service that our city counts on. So, anyway, I think it's worth us pursuing, certainly on polling, and then perhaps hopefully getting it on the ballot. Tara Winer: Great. Tara Winer: So that's… that's all you got? Tara Winer: Okay, Rob. Robert Kaplan: I would be interested in the, public ground mill levy, just the expanding of how the existing funds are used, for sure. Second home vacancy tax, I have the same concerns, administratively, how that's gonna cost. Robert Kaplan: But, at the end of the day, if it's not taxing staff, and it's bringing in revenue. Robert Kaplan: I'm definitely open to that. Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Next we have Ryan. No, Tina. Sorry, Tina. Sorry, Tina. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): Yeah, I'm interested in the public realm pulling, the number 4, and, I'm very interested in the residential vacancy excise tax, and I'm also interested in it at a higher tax level, so that it would generate more revenue. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And possibly be closer to some other, well, to another state that does that. Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): And I think that we can figure out the administration of that tax. I also have a preference for Tina Marquis - Boulder City Council (She/her): The city staff to shape that particular tax, and do it right. Tara Winer: Okay, great. Brian. Ryan Schuchard: I'm interested in all three, and I'd just like to comment on the vacancy tax. I have gone from being really interested in this to learning that the numbers of units

Ryan Schuchard: you know, the revenue is maybe not as exciting as we thought it might be. And it kind of, to me, kind of popped out. Ryan Schuchard: being an obvious long-term financial strategy item, and instead, you know, just maybe also a good item for whatever reason. And so I've been a little bit cool on it, but, now seeing some of the rental prices that are on offer for homes for Sundance. Ryan Schuchard: I am now looking at this and thinking that this would be good infrastructure for us to set up, so that we can have a handle on that, and so from, like, an anti-displacement standpoint, I think it would be… this looks interesting to me to make sure we have that in place. Thanks. Tara Winer: Okay, next we have Erin. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Yeah, so I'm interested in the residential vacancy tax, and to Tina's point, I think we could look at larger numbers that would make the financial consequences more impactful. And then I liked what Nicole had to say about the public realm mill levy, about pulling a couple of the different options. That would be interesting to me as well. Thanks. Tara Winer: Okay, Taisha. Taishya Adams: I also agree with the second home vacancy, especially as to incentivize, and I would be open to a higher tax rate. And then I'm also interested in the public realm. Thank you. Tara Winer: Okay, all right. Anybody else? I'm gonna go last. I am going to agree that I'm interested in the residential vacancy tax, especially hearing Matt's, snowplow Tara Winer: argument, which I thought was excellent. I also want to pull the public realm tax, like Nicole said, both the expansion,

Tara Winer: all of the… all the different options, and I want to add my option. I'm a little bit worried that our mill levy, if it's too high, it's going to turn people off, and it's going to affect businesses too much. They already pay too much property tax Tara Winer: And so, I would be open to a smaller mill levy that would affect Tara Winer: Businesses less, and people less. Tara Winer: Okay, now we're ready to poll. Tara Winer: So, I think we're just gonna do everybody that wants to do number 3, mid-range, general purposes, mid-levy, raise your hand. Yes. Tara Winer: I see… Aaron, you're the hand coucher for me. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): One, I see one. Tara Winer: Okay, one. All right, everybody that doesn't want to do that, raise your hand. Tara Winer: Okay, so 3's off the table. Now we have… 4. Tara Winer: Everybody who wants to do some iteration of 4 Raise your hand. Tara Winer: That looks like everybody. Nuria slash Chris and Mark, do you need more than that for 4? Tara Winer: Do you need me to go… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): We do not, though I'll note that it wasn't everyone, but we… I think we have, Tara Winer: No, I can't say that well. How many people was it, do you know? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): I think it was 8. Tara Winer: 8. Okay, 8. Sorry about that, last person. Tara Winer: I'm not seeing the screen that well. Okay, now we have number 5. Everybody that would like to go further information with the residential vacancy tax, raise your hand. Tara Winer: How many is that? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Six? Tara Winer: Okay, great. Now we're up to structural, and I know that people want to talk about that, so we'll take comments first. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Can I ask a clarifying question? You bet.

Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): So the… we have the structural for the public realm sales tax expansion of existing, but I think we covered that under the mid-range public realm, so I think we're left with 6 and 7. Tara Winer: Is that true, Nuria? Do you agree? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Would you feel that way? Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: Those two options are slightly different. One is the combination of all the sales tax increments into one. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Yep, okay. Scott Carpenter, City of Boulder: That's number 8. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): That's my mistake. So number 8 is actually the combining of all the different sales taxes. Tara Winer: That's right, so it's the public realm sales tax versus the public realm mill levy. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): My mistake, thanks. Tara Winer: Okay. All right, so we're gonna start with, does anybody have comments about structural? I think Mark does, right, Mark? Mark Wallach: Yeah, I would, Not want to, basically, Mark Wallach: D-dedicate all of our funds and put them into one lump sum. Mark Wallach: There's a reason why we had dedicated funds. It's probably gone too far. We need to increase the scope of uses for those funds, but to simply put them all in a pot, there are reasons why people wanted those dedicated funds. Again, it's gone too far, but I think we were already, with our other Mark Wallach: Number 4, I think we would be taking care of that. Mark Wallach: The general fund debt authorization, I think, is very important, because it's a substantial amount of money, and we can hopefully make good judgments as to how to use it, and I think it's an appropriate financing vehicle for us. The increase in the property tax cap. Mark Wallach: I would not be in favor of, and Mark Wallach: I think the polling results will be fairly sad on that one. Tara Winer: Hey, thanks so much, Mark. Matt?

Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Yeah, I think the general fund debt is the best bang for the buck for us. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: contributes, and it gets us a massive amount of new capital to work with. As I said, we can't repurpose CCRS. We clearly know that we've got something right in front of us that the community is clamoring for, and that is a plan for South Boulder Rec Center, and this money gives us a chance to have a conversation about what that plan can be. Matt Benjamin - Boulder City Council: Because we haven't had that conversation, because there's been no money to discuss. So this is massively transformational, which is crazy, because it's not in the transformational thing, but it's so important for us to discuss, and doesn't raise taxes. So this is… this is a big one for us, and I'm just glad that we're able to have this conversation now. It's… it's really quite… quite substantial. Tara Winer: Great. Nicole. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Yeah, I would be interested, in polling, actually, all of these, options, if that doesn't feel like it would be too many. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): To pull for the structural changes. And, you know, I hope we can kind of hold off on talking about these things as going toward any particular project, for now, until we get to that, that facilities discussion in April, because that's going to be a really important one. Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): But I see value in all of these things, and whether or not we were interested in putting them on the ballot, I would very much like to see what the community thinks about them. They are all really important structural changes that would be helpful for us in future councils. Tara Winer: Okay, next we have Rob. Robert Kaplan: Yeah, I… Robert Kaplan: would support the general fund debt authorization. I think we are in a situation now where we have some major, major capital improvements that, aren't funded. Robert Kaplan: And I think exploring that and putting out to that, to the public would be useful. The public realm, sales tax, consolidation, Robert Kaplan: you know, Krista did speak to that as far as…

Robert Kaplan: the transparency of it, I'd be interested in that going out to the public. My gut is the increase in property tax cap, is gonna go over like a lead balloon. Tara Winer: Okay, fantastic. Next, we have Ryan. Ryan Schuchard: First, just a clarifying question, I think for Nuria, and it's, how are we doing on our quota for, for polling? I, I don't… do we have two we've got going, and do we have space for one more? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Again, we're… what we're trying to see is, we're not talking about polling yet, as much as how many, how much… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): How many of these items do you want staff to dive in deeper? And… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): I'll continue… I'll let Krista sort of take a look at where we are right now and see… Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): how we're… how we're doing. We've taken some off the table, we've got a couple that are still there. Tara Winer: Okay, we're doing well. What do you think, Ryan? Ryan Schuchard: Okay, well, I'm asking because I have a… there's one I prefer, but if it's… if we can do both, you know, I… so, I mean, I liked 6 the most, so I'd like to move forward with that. Okay. And then, in terms of exploring, if there's time and space, it's not a hindrance, I like number 7. Ryan Schuchard: And then I… sorry, Terry, I think this is probably our last shot to talk, so I just also wanted to mention Mark, on his hotline. Ryan Schuchard: mentioned the idea of exploring open space fees for visitors. I don't know that that was meant to be a 2026… because that's not on the agenda for today, but I just thought he made a good point that, you know, we basically own a national… pretty much a national park here, and we Ryan Schuchard: a lot of visitors, we incur a lot of costs on it. That seems like something we ought to be exploring at some point, and I just wanted to say that while we're having this discussion. And then, finally, that reminded me of another idea. My understanding is we've got over a million dollars now coming in in revenue from automated traffic enforcement.

Ryan Schuchard: And there's a lot of ways of thinking about that, but, you know, ultimately, that money ideally goes down, because we have people that are not, you know, violating the law. But in any case, that does seem like that… the strategy and how we manage that going forward, will become really important for this financial strategy conversation, because cities have taken… have done a lot of different things with those types of revenues. Some have wished they'd done it different ways. Ryan Schuchard: So, I'll leave it at that, but before we move off all this, I wanted to just point out those two ideas. Thank you. Tara Winer: Really good point, Ryan, and I agree with you about Mark's comment about open space, and I'm not sure when we'll talk about that, but it was a good one. Okay. Tara Winer: I'm gonna say that I agree with 6. Tara Winer: I can go either way on 7. Tara Winer: Because I don't think people will be into it. So it's kind of… if we're gonna have to narrow it down, I would say, looking into my crystal ball, 7's probably gonna be not… Tara Winer: one that the community wants, but I will… I do want to make a stamp for the public realm sales tax, which I wasn't into at first, but staff talked me into it today, even though, Krista, it was a comment that one… somebody made, either you or Chris, I don't remember who, that Tara Winer: The good thing about uncoupling those, dedicated sales taxes is you never know what's going to happen in the future, and Tara Winer: Right now, our hands are tied with them. Tara Winer: So, I think untying our hands so that we're prepared for whatever in the world's gonna happen in this world. Tara Winer: will be a good thing. Right now, a lot of our sales tax is already taken up with things. Tara Winer: So, I'm gonna ask… I'm gonna vote for that one as well. I don't know how the community would feel about it, but… Tara Winer: You talked me into it today, so…

Tara Winer: That's… that's that. Alright, ready for straw polling? Here we go. Tara Winer: Number 6, raise your hand if you want to do that. Tara Winer: And where's my counter, Aaron? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): I got 9. Tara Winer: Alright, look at that! Is that our first 9? I think so. Tara Winer: All right, exciting. All right, number 7, raise your hand if you want that. Tara Winer: How many we got? Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Three. Tara Winer: Great, okay. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): tube. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): do. Tara Winer: 2. Two-ish, 2-ish, three-ish. Okay, either way, that's off the table, and everybody that wants to poll number 8, raise your hand. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): 5. Tara Winer: Five, whew! Tara Winer: Look at that, just made it through. Tara Winer: All right, look at us at 8.49, tell me, staff, Nuria, Krista. Tara Winer: Chris, is there anything else that you need from us to go forward that we didn't give you? Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde (she/ella): Mr. How are you feeling about feedback you've gotten? Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: I think we have what we need to move forward. Really appreciate the discussion this evening. I just want to, summarize here. We have number… Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: 4 moving forward, number 5 moving forward. Krista Morrison - City of Boulder Finance: And number 6 moving forward, as well as number 8. Tara Winer: So we just did so well! Look at us! Tara Winer: Okay. Tara Winer: Anything else before we close the meeting? Tara Winer: No? Wow. Any last words? Because we do have a few extra minutes. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): Just a huge thank you to the city staff who've worked so hard on putting the analysis together and bringing us forward on this discussion. Really appreciate it.

Tara Winer: And I want to give myself a huge thanks, because, you know, I was petrified about these straw polls, and thank you for everybody for helping me through. It was a team effort, and we got it done. Aaron Brockett (he/him/él): And thank you, Tara, for running the meeting tonight. We really appreciate it. Tara Winer: I wanted to quit right in the middle, but I didn't, and I'm so proud of myself. Okay. All right, so, at 8.51, I'm going to call this meeting to close. Tara Winer: With my gal. Tara Winer: Have a great night, and happy birthday, Nicole! Nicole Speer, Boulder City Council (she/her): Thank you. Thanks for giving me time to get cake. Tara Winer: Bye. Robert Kaplan: Night.