Aurora public safety tax and bonds

Repairs to Aurora's police stations, fire stations and 911 dispatch center, and a new fire station in the southeast, make up the city's project list for Ballot Issue 3B. The question creates a new sales and use tax for "PUBLIC SAFETY NEEDS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE OPERATION, REPAIR, MAINTENANCE, AND IMPROVEMENTS TO POLICE, FIRE, AND OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY INFRASTRUCTURE AND FACILITIES". It also lets the city borrow against that tax through revenue bonds, and the debt's listed purposes are "INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: FIRE STATION RENOVATIONS AND REMODELS; AURORA 911 AND POLICE FACILITIES IMPROVEMENTS".

Proposed improvements for Police Stations 1 North, 2 Central and 3 South include new mechanical and electrical systems and site improvements; the city says its police buildings average more than 32 years old. The bonds also remodel Fire Stations 2 and 3 and improve other fire stations, and the Aurora911 building at Tallyns Reach gets improvements that may include lighting, finish and security upgrades.

Fire Station 19, the biggest item at $13.7 million, is a new station for the Southshore area near Smoky Hill and Powhaton, in what The Denver Post called the city's fast-growing southeast. Justin Dodds, president of Aurora Firefighters Protective Association Local 1290, told the paper in June that response times to the southeast are not meeting standards and that "we should be building stations at the same time communities are going in."

The new 0.064% sales and use tax adds 6.4 cents to a $100 taxable purchase and runs from January 1, 2027, through December 31, 2057. The TABOR notice estimates the maximum increase at $6,270,000 in the first full fiscal year and states a proposed principal of $53,000,000, a maximum annual repayment of $6,270,000 and a total repayment cost of $101,600,000. The city may repay the bonds from the tax and "OTHER LEGALLY AVAILABLE FUNDS", and the council sets their interest, maturity and other terms. City staff told the council in May that the tax will also pay to operate, repair, maintain and improve public safety buildings, and that the city plans to use it for bond program management. A yes vote also lets Aurora keep and spend all the tax's revenue and investment earnings despite any limit in Colorado's constitution, its statutes or the city charter.

The council referred 3B on June 22, with nine members voting yes, Mayor Mike Coffman abstaining and Council Member Alli Jackson voting no. Neither other Build Up Aurora question, 3A for community facilities or 3C for transportation, drew a no vote, and neither is tied to 3B's tax or bonds.

In the city's TABOR notice, supporters point to aging public safety buildings and the need to improve emergency response times. Opponents raise concerns about oversight of police spending, and some write that developer contributions should have covered these costs, citing historically low capital expansion fees.