Boulder Bonds for Recreation Centers, Police and City Buildings

The City of Boulder seeks authority to issue up to $400 million in general obligation debt, with total repayment of up to $650 million and property taxes of up to $32.5 million annually, to build, renovate or replace "community recreation, safety infrastructure, and other capital projects, such as" six named items: two recreation centers, fire stations, a new public safety building for police and 911 services, the Penfield Tate II Municipal Building and the Municipal Service Center. Under the referring ordinance, the City Council would set the terms of the debt and choose the projects it pays for. Property taxes to repay it would be levied "without limitation as to the rate," limited only by the dollar amounts in the question, and the money would be collected and spent as an exception to the limits of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, or any other law.

The same ordinance says the bonds "shall be repaid from an ad valorem mill levy that will expire at the time the Bonds retire."

City staff listed estimates in the council packet for August 6, 2026: $65 million for a new South Boulder Recreation Center; $72 million for the North Boulder Recreation Center, including the senior center's move; $5 million for Fire Station 1 and $2 million for Fire Station 5; $170 million for a public safety center and 911 dispatch to replace the present building; $100 million for the Municipal Service Center; and $30 million for the Penfield Tate II building. Staff wrote that the list "adds up to over $400 million because sale of buildings is factored into the total cost of the projects." The city's bond guide says it "would re-scope projects if there are funding gaps after the identified buildings are sold."

The public safety center has no site yet; the city's guide says its cost "depends on selected location." The city says that project would start first, with a goal of finishing all the projects within 10 years.

Staff's fiscal note estimates a 6.352-mill increase if the full amount is borrowed on a 20-year term: $401.70 a year on a residential property worth $1 million and $1,588.00 on a commercial property of the same value. Staff expects the debt to be issued in stages, so the increase would not come in one year; staff wrote that the increase "is estimated around 2028-2030." The city's guide calls these figures a model built on the 20-year term and "estimated interest rates," and says the council would set the levy each year.

Section 97 of the Boulder Home Rule Charter caps property-tax-backed city debt, including debt already outstanding, at three percent of the assessed value of taxable property. On the 2025 assessed value of $5.0 billion, staff wrote, "the city is limited to $150.7 million in general obligation debt." The same memo says the bond "would require a second ballot measure" to base the limit on "actual value," which staff put at $51.7 billion for 2025. That measure is question 2M on this ballot, a charter amendment that would set the limit for later borrowing as well. Axios Boulder reported that 2M "would need to pass for the city to issue the full amount of debt."

Staff describe "a $400M unfunded infrastructure and major maintenance backlog" in city facilities and say the bond would reach "most of the identified 15 city priority buildings." The city’s 0.3 percent Community, Culture, Resilience and Safety tax is committed elsewhere: the city says its forecast CCRS revenue through 2031 is already needed for planned capital projects. The city reports three rounds of budget cuts since 2025. If the bond fails, the city says it "does not have a plan to fund a new South Boulder Recreation Center or Public Safety Building" and would look at scaling back services, raising fees, or both.

The council approved the bond measure unanimously on August 6, the Daily Camera reported. In a June survey of 400 likely voters by Probolsky Research, 45 percent supported it, 44 percent opposed it and 11 percent were unsure after hearing its effects. Boulder Reporting Lab quoted Councilmember Mark Wallach in June: "We need to swing for the fences."

The Boulder Chamber opposes both the bond and 2M. It wrote that they do not provide "sufficient project certainty, prioritization, fiscal safeguards or accountability to justify the scale of borrowing being requested," and said it would more likely consider "a smaller, phased and prioritized capital package tied to specific projects and measurable outcomes." Former councilmember Steve Pomerance argued in a Daily Camera column that the inflation-adjusted operating budget per resident rose more than 18 percent in 10 years, and that cuts could fund most of the building work without a tax increase. Councilmember Nicole Speer and former Councilmember Mark Wallach, writing in Boulder Reporting Lab, answered the critics that "there is a cost of failing to invest in the recreation centers, fire stations, emergency communications systems and public facilities we all rely on."