Hello,

The Commissioners are not holding a town hall meeting in August because of scheduling conflicts.  Mark your calendars for our September townhall on September 24 from 5:30 – 7:00 at the Erie Town Hall, 2750 Vista Pkwy, Erie, CO 80516.  The topic will be the proposed county budget for 2025.  I will not be there because I will be on a cycling trip in Mongolia.  If you have been to Mongolia, I would love to hear back from you with any traveling tips you might have.  This will be my first vacation since May, 2022 and I REALLY need it.

Before I turn to yet another discussion of legislative proposals on property taxes, I want to share something disturbing that I heard at a recent community event.  I am the Democratic Party’s nominee for election to a second term as a Boulder County Commissioner.  There is a write-in candidate who is also seeking this seat.  This candidate was at the same community event that I was at, and was telling people that I plan to take a job in Denver and will not be keeping my seat.  I want to assure you that that is absolutely not the case, and that I am fully committed to a second term and have laid out my plans on my website.  In case this rumor spreads, I want you to hear it from me that that rumor is false.

My July newsletter was all about property taxes and now this one will, unfortunately, be about property taxes again.  You’ll remember from my last newsletter that the two initiatives on the ballot (Initiatives 50 and 108) will devastate state and local budgets and provide disproportionate benefits to owners of high-value homes. (Here is the website of the opposition campaign.) Initiative 108 alone would have reduced total statewide revenue by $13.7 billion, and both initiatives would have reduced the county’s budget by as much as $47 million. (Remember that current law already limits Boulder County’s annual revenue growth from property taxes to 5.5%. Boulder County reduced our mill levy to stay within that limit.)  The proponent of these measures proposed a “compromise” under which he would withdraw both measures from the ballot if the legislature imposes additional specified reductions in property taxes beyond what the legislature already did in the 2024 session in an effort to forestall these initiatives. (I am calling it a “compromise” because it is being proposed with a loaded gun pointed at local governments.) This “compromise” would reduce Boulder County revenues by as much as an additional $10 million per year, for a cumulative reduction of $32 million over a five-year period. In addition, it will limit the growth of our budget to 5.25% per year.  

The legislature will convene for three days next week to consider this proposal.  The fundamental question will be whether legislators think the risk that the initiatives will pass is sufficiently high that they should further gut local government revenues.  There is a sizable block of Democrats who say the polling shows these measures can be beaten at the ballot box, which is why the proponent is offering this deal, and that the legislature should not be negotiating against itself by enacting additional reductions.  They also think, as do I, that if any changes are made to our property tax structure, it ought to provide the greatest reductions to people in lower-valued homes instead of the across-the-board reduction in assessment rates and valuation amount, which flow disproportionately to higher value property owners. 

There are several ideas under consideration that I have been working on.  One would only apply the reductions in assessment rates to residential property that is occupied as a primary residence, whether owner-occupied or rented, so that second-home owners and those rented as short-term rentals do not receive the benefit of reduced taxes.  A second idea is to reduce the amount of home value that is subject to taxation by up to 15% of the home’s value but only for those that are valued at 70% or less of the median property value for that county.  The reduction would be phased out on a graduated basis for homes that are between 70% and 195% of median home value.  The effect of this approach provides the greatest benefit to owners of more modest homes, in contrast to current law, which provides a larger reduction for homes valued at $700,000 than for those valued below $700,000.

I know that’s a lot of numbers.  Charts and graphs would tell the story better.  But I don’t know how to put a text box from another document into Mail Chimp.

In my July newsletter I expressed relief that the NCAR/ Dinosaur fire was quickly extinguished.  As you well know, in Boulder County alone we had two more fires, one of which burned five houses and led to a fatality.  I can’t express enough how important home-hardening and wildfire risk mitigation is.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as they say.  So please use the county rebate we are offering of $500 per household to get started on removing juniper bushes and replacing flammable fencing materials.  

I am thrilled to share that my dream of a basic income program in Boulder County has been launched!  Boulder County’s “Nurturing Futures” program is accepting applications until August 27.  Using American Rescue Plan Act funding, we will be providing $300/month to up to 750 county households whose income is at or below 30% of Area Median Income (about $40,000 for a family of three) and who have a child that is under the age of four.  With the high cost of childcare, groceries, transportation and rent, we know that this additional money will make it easier to make ends meet and reduce the stress of scarcity and precarity.  The funds are available regardless of immigration status, and so they will be especially helpful to families that are not eligible for assistance through state and federally funded programs. We have sufficient funding to provide these funds for up to two years.  Basic income programs work.  Our hope is to find the funds to continue this assistance given the strong outcomes of similar programs in Denver and elsewhere in the country.

I’ll close on another cheery topic, which is that on August 13 the Commissioners unanimously accepted the North Foothills Bikeway Feasibility Study.  This will allow us to move forward with more design and engineering studies and position the county to seek additional state and federal funds.  The goal is to have a 12-foot wide concrete multi-use path between Lyons and Boulder on the east side of Foothills Highway and wildlife underpasses north of St. Vrain Road where there are numerous collisions between vehicles and wildlife.  Where there is sufficient right-of-way, the bikeway will be 20 feet away from the highway, creating a much safer riding opportunity for recreational and commuter cycling.

Keep your thoughts coming my way.  It is an honor to serve you as a Boulder County Commissioner.

Claire