Boulder commission backs DDA ballot referral for downtown, University Hill district
The proposal headed to City Council would ask voters inside the proposed district to create a Downtown Development Authority, allow tax-increment financing and replace existing district levies with a new mill levy.
Boulder’s University Hill Commercial Area Management Commission unanimously recommended July 7 that City Council send Downtown Development Authority ballot measures to voters for a proposed district covering downtown, University Hill, the civic area and connector corridors.
City Council is expected to consider the referral Aug. 6, according to city materials and recent reporting. If council agrees, the measures would go only to eligible electors inside the proposed district, not to a citywide vote.
The ballot package would ask those voters to create the DDA, authorize tax-increment financing and adopt a new mill levy that city officials say would replace the existing CAGID and UHGID levies. City staff’s DDA project page says the district would include Downtown Boulder, the Civic Area and University Hill.
City staff told commissioners there are 2,275 eligible electors: 559 residents, 536 property owners and a little more than 1,100 lessees. Staff said lessees account for about half of eligible electors. Business or property-owning entities would have to request a ballot and designate a registered voter to cast it.
Staff also said key governance questions remain unresolved. A draft letter of intent or intergovernmental agreement would address the future DDA’s governance, parking asset transition, tax-increment financing revenue sharing and council oversight, but final terms would not be set unless voters first form the district.
At the meeting, staff said the city and its consultants can provide factual information and logistical help but cannot run a campaign. Commissioners discussed the need for broader stakeholder outreach, including clearer examples for residents and property owners and possible forums for business owners.
The commission’s vote does not put the measures on the ballot. Council still must decide whether to refer them, and any November election would depend on later council action and final ballot language.