[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Ballot Measures

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Yates, Bob

Council Colleagues:


Since I will be unable to attend tomorrow evening's meeting, I weigh in below on some of the ballot measures that will be considered:


  1.  Municipalization Utility Occupation Tax: I favor presenting to the voters in November an extension of the tax for three years, rather than six years. This will align the three-year period of expenditure of the funds with the time of the revenue receipt. If the tax is spread out over six years, we would have to materially deplete our general fund reserves, from nearly $25 million at the beginning of 2018 to less than $17 million at the end of 2018, then take five more years to recoup the borrowing. These are our "rainy day" reserves and I do not believe that it would be good governance for us to so significantly impair our financial resilience and flexibility, particularly with a matter over which we have direct control. I realize that the difference between spreading the tax over three years vs. spreading it over six years means a difference in the average residential utility bill of about $2.50 per month. However, this is a tax that the ratepayers will have to pay anyway (if the ballot measure passes), albeit over a longer period of time. In any event, no one said that the municipalization effort would be cost-free, and I trust the voters to decide whether they are willing to pay this amount to continue to fund the municipalization litigation. By way of compromise, perhaps a majority on Council would consider a four-year tax period. While not fully aligning the period of the tax with the period of the expenditure, it significantly reduces the depth and duration of the depletion of the general fund reserves, compared to six years.
  2.  Municipalization Executive Sessions and Go/No Go Vote: I generally favor asking the voters in November whether they wish to extend the authorization for Council executive sessions, and to allow the voters the ultimate say on whether to proceed with municipalization at the appropriate time. However, with respect to executive sessions, I currently favor the city staff's draft ordinance 8190, allowing for executive session settlement discussions, including a potential new franchise, upon notice to the public. In the alternative, I suggest that Council continue until August 15 deliberations on both ordinance 8190 and the alternative ordinance 8194, so that we can have a more fulsome discussion when all of the Council members will be present.
  3.  Capital Improvements Tax: As discussed at last Tuesday's Council meeting, I suggest that the capital improvements tax contemplated by ordinance 8197 be extended for six years, rather than the competing alternatives of five years and seven years that we considered last week. This will give us the flexibility to consider including more city projects, once information about them is shared with us by city staff. In addition to potentially adding such city projects, I suggest that we add the loan proposed by the Downtown Boulder Foundation for the downtown arts cinema, and that we modify the grant to BMoCA to $4.6 million initially, with the potential to increase the grant to $6 million near the end of the tax period in the event that there are then unallocated capital tax revenues to support the increase and BMoCA has then raised $6 million in matching funds. Alternatively, please consider passing two versions of the enabling ordinance tomorrow evening on first reading, one with a five-year tax and one with a six-year tax, so that we may engage in a discussion of the alternatives on second reading on August 15.

Best,

Bob