Published On: October 12th, 2019Categories: Uncategorized

Boulder leaders are confident voters on Nov. 5 will extend a sales tax that would raise an estimated .3 million next year for a city conservation easement purchase of Long’s Gardens to forever prevent development of the beloved agricultural area.

But Ballot Issue 2H, if passed, for the following 19 years would annually dedicate that amount, garnered through a 0.15% sales tax increment, exclusively to Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. Questions have been raised over whether such a long-term and narrow funding request by City Council is prudent in the face of mounting financial shortfalls for the local transportation network and public safety agencies.

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks trail crew members Austin Keuhne and Nick Roth dump dirt into a wheelbarrow while working on Mesa Trail in Wednesday.

Half of City Council — Mayor Suzanne Jones, and members Mary Young, Bob Yates and Aaron Brockett — initially hesitated to support the 20-year tax term, which would  continue a tax of the same rate scheduled to sunset this year.

Burdening taxpayers for that long may heighten their caution when council pursues more substantial public funding for transportation, affordable housing and police, fire department and emergency medical services needs, the contingent of council initially worried.

Council considered variations of the tax request that would have dedicated 0.05% of the revenue to the general fund, or transportation projects, and also debated whether it should last for 10 or 20 years.

Alternate proposals

Eventually three of those members with reservations were swayed into a unanimous decision to ask for the 20-year tax exclusively for Long’s Gardens and open space leaving it up to future efforts to address the city’s other money-starved assets. Among those is Boulder’s ambitious transportation vision needing $200 million annually, according to a newly adopted master plan.

“It seems virtually certain that this tax is going to pass,” Boulder Transportation Advisory Board member Bill Rigler said. “… It’s clear that there are members on this City Council who want to leave a legacy, and it’s disappointing that greater funding for transportation is not a part of that legacy.”

Brockett supported allocating a slice of the 0.15% tax to the general fund, while Young pushed for amending the request to a shorter lifespan, even after voting for the full 20-year term a week before, while acknowledging open space’s multi-million dollar unfunded needs. Yates said he also generally supports shorter tax terms than 20 years.

“It has been said that not dedicating the full tax to open space would be irresponsible. I agree,” Young said in an email that identified $24 million in unfunded needs between transportation, library, fire department and emergency medical service requirements. “It is equally irresponsible not to consider all of the other citywide unfunded ongoing needs as we make this decision.”

Young said she plans to push council next year to form a task force of community members to take a deep dive into the city’s budget to pinpoint where savings could be realized and how new funding could be generated to put toward Boulder’s growing public safety needs. Those needs include a proposal to convert emergency medical services from an independent contract with the city to municipal employees, library funding and the continued initiative to bridge racial equity gaps.

“I do believe that the open space tax will pass,” Young said. “And this community, it is really in their base makeup to support open space. … That’s $100 million (over 20 years) that can go to no other department but open space. The needs are real. We’re going to have to figure out alternatives. My concern was solely out of concern for the community’s well-being.”

There is no formal campaign opposing the open space tax ballot measure as proposed, and three committees have formed to support it, having raised more than $9,500 to put toward pushing the proposal’s passage.

Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer

Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks trail crew members Austin Keuhne moves dirt while doing repair work on the Mesa Trail on Wednesday.

 

But if voters prove predictions wrong and the open space tax fails in November, Young said Open Space and Mountain Parks officials are prepared to go without the funding.

“It would be a much more constrained approach,” Young said.

Indirect revenue

Leaders of the Open Space YES! committee campaigning for the measure’s passage are optimistic on a “yes” result. They also pointed out the cut of the tax that could have gone to transportation or the general fund under the variations pondered  by council would not have made a large dent in the city’s non-open space needs.

“I think any portion of that 0.15% would not do a thing for affordable housing, really,” Open Space YES! supporter Allyn Feinberg said. “That’s a big question and it needs big answers, not some portion of this open space tax. There are some funding aspects of transportation that really need to be devoted to people who are using the transportation system. When you start doing that, the whole economic system will look very different.”

Committee co-chair Amanda Bickel contends well-managed public open space properties help fuel Boulder’s public revenue by attracting visitors who contribute to sales tax generation, meaning the unique asset indirectly helps pay for transportation and other needs.

“Open space is the jewel that creates all of Boulder’s riches,” Bickel said. “The city wouldn’t be what it is if it were not for this spectacular open space. It’s why people come here, why they visit, why we get a lot of our sales tax.”

Acquisition option

Rigler feels the great majority of the open space funding generated by the tax, if passed, should be funneled toward maintenance of properties, as opposed to new acquisitions, a use the language in the proposal leaves open as a possibility.

Feinberg highlighted new purchases are a lower priority than maintenance in the Open Space Master Plan council recently accepted.

Including acquisitions as an allowed use of tax revenue also leaves open the possibility of adding lands to the open space portfolio whose owners the city has been negotiating with for years, Feinberg said. “If the family dynamic ever creates a situation where the family wants to sell, if some of those situations come up, it’s important to be able to take advantage of them. It would be unfortunate to not be able to respond to them in this 20-year time period.”


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