Agenda Memo

City of Boulder City Council Agenda Item Meeting Date: October 15, 2026 Agenda Title Consideration of the following pertaining to the 2027 budget of the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District: Consideration of a motion to adjourn as the Boulder City Council and convene as the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Board of Directors; and 1. Consideration of a motion to adopt Resolution 234 concerning the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District adopting a budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and 2. Consideration of a motion to adopt Resolution 235 establishing the 2026 City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Property Tax Mill Levy for payment of expenditures, in part, of the district during the fiscal year 2027, beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and 3. Consideration of a motion to adopt Resolution 236 appropriating money to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District for the 2027 fiscal year beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and Consideration of a motion to adjourn from the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Board of Directors and reconvene as the Boulder City Council

Staff Contact •

Charlotte Huskey, Budget Officer

•

Krista Morrison, Chief Financial Officer

Draft Motion Language Staff requests council consideration of this matter and action in the form of the following motion: Motion to adjourn as the Boulder City Council and convene as the City of Boulder University Hill Commercial District Board of Directors; and 1. Motion to adopt Resolution 234 concerning the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District adopting a budget for the fiscal year beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and 2. Motion to adopt Resolution 235 establishing the 2026 City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Property Tax Mill Levy for payment of expenditures, in part, of the district during the fiscal year 2027, beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and 3. Motion to adopt Resolution 236 appropriating money to defray the expenses and liabilities of the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District for the 2027 fiscal year beginning January 1, 2027; and setting forth related details; and Motion to adjourn from the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Board of Directors and reconvene as the Boulder City Council

Executive Summary The purpose of this item is for Boulder City Council convening as the City of Boulder University Hill Commercial District Board of Directors (“Board”) to adopt and appropriate the 2027 budget for the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District as well as set the 2026 property tax mill levy. These resolutions (Attachments A-C) adopt the 2027 budget, establish the 2026 property tax mill levy, and appropriate funding presented to council in the City Manager’s 2027 Recommended Budget for the University Hill Commercial District Fund. The City Manager’s 2027 Recommended Budget for the University Hill Commercial District Fund was proposed at $606,900.

To ensure compliance with Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, commonly known as TABOR, staff is recommending the application of a mill levy credit of 3.584 mills. Specifically: Base Mill Levy: 4.984 Less: Mill Levy Credit (3.584) Net Mill Levy: 1.400

Board Action Options Option

Outcome

Approve motion language as drafted

If the motion is approved, the City of Boulder University Hill Commercial District will have an appropriated and adopted budget for the 2027 fiscal year.

Define and adopt a modified motion

The Board would need to define any modifications or amendments to the draft motion language and have the motion language perfected before a vote to adopt this item. This will require staff to bring back an amended version.

Deny the motion or take no action

If the Board does not adopt the resolutions, the district's budget and spending authority will expire, and essential government functions will be jeopardized.

Refer back to staff

If the Board refers this item back to staff, the Board will need to define modifications or amendments so that staff is prepared to present modified and amended district budget resolutions at a second reading.

Alignment with City Plans and City Council History Sustainability, Equity and Resilience (SER) Framework and Citywide Strategic Plan Alignment SER Framework Goal Area The city develops the annual budget through the lens of the overarching SER Framework, which serves as the foundation to budget decision-making and resource

allocation. The 2027 City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District Recommended Budget continues to align and uplift investments supporting Livable and Economically Vital through goal area investments in the City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District.

Citywide Strategic Plan The annual budget development process represents a key pillar of the annual workplan for the city’s Budget Office, which focuses on forecasting, budgetary, and fiscal planning with departments and in support of the organization, alignment of the city’s resources to the city’s SER Framework, and continued work in outcome-based budgeting.

Staff Notes N/A - this is a standard budget item.

Alignment with Additional City Plans N/A - this is a standard budget item.

City Council History In past years, council has asked for additional information related to City of Boulder University Hill General Improvement District (UHGID) revenue limitations. There are two state laws limiting revenue collections in Colorado. They include state statute 29-1-301, C.R.S., known as the “5.5%” revenue limit and Article X, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, commonly known as the “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” or TABOR. The TABOR limit for revenue is a formulaic limitation on the annual growth of district revenues, meaning TABOR limits the amount of revenue that may be kept in any particular year (including taxes and fees) under a rigid revenue cap, and requires a refund of excess revenue received in any particular year absent voter approval to keep the excess. Voters in local municipalities and districts can remove these limits, by majority approval of a ballot issue in a November election. Entities doing so can remove both limits with a single ballot measure. No ballot measures have been introduced to remove either limitation for UHGID. TABOR includes two limitations on the amount of property taxes that UHGID can collect. The first sets a cap on the amount of mills levied at the prior year amount unless increased by voter approval. The second limits revenues to prior year revenue collection levels plus inflation and growth, the rigid revenue cap mentioned above. Each entity (including GIDs separately from the city) must meet both

requirements (the “nesting” effect of TABOR). When assessed property values increase so that the revenues UHGID collects exceed the combination of growth and inflation in the district, the mill levy must be adjusted downward to ensure revenue collections stay within TABOR limits. In so doing, the new mill levy cannot be increased to the previous number without voter approval (this is called the “ratchet down” effect of TABOR). To avoid this, a mill levy credit, rather than a permanent reduction, has been applied. The credit is considered temporary (one year only) so has the effect of reducing revenue collections by applying a lower mill levy for the next year, without permanently reducing the cap on the amount of mills levied for future years. As shown above, this credit is calculated annually when setting the mill levy for UHGID, in order to ensure compliance with TABOR.

Analysis Equity Analysis The city develops the annual budget using the SER Framework, which leads with decision-making as aligned to the goal areas and objectives underneath the sustainability, equity, and resilience umbrella. While these three pillars represent the overarching goals for the city, equity considerations are embedded throughout the annual budget development process, including the city’s efforts to shift from a traditional increment-based budgeting approach to outcome-based budgeting, focusing more on the outcomes of our investments and how those align to the greater SER Framework.

Fiscal Note The 2027 Recommended Budget presented for City Council consideration proposes a total $552.6 million across all funds, including a 2027 Operating Budget of $417.2 million and 2027 Capital Budget of $135.4 million. Within the 2027 Recommended Budget online budget book, the Budget in Brief provides a comprehensive summary of the significant fiscal changes included within the budget, including fiscal spending plans across all funds, departments, and programs areas in the city’s budget. In addition, the Budget in Brief provides an All Funds Summary table for the 2027 fiscal year, including anticipated revenues, budgeted expenses, and beginning and ending fund balances.

Climate, Resilience, and Sustainability Considerations The city develops the annual budget through the lens of the overarching SER Framework, which serves as the foundation to budget decision-making and resource allocation. The 2027 Recommended Budget continues to align and uplift investments

supporting resilience and sustainability, including in areas such as water and wastewater infrastructure, wildfire resilience, flood mitigation, and city facility renovations and infrastructure projects that will result in reduced building energy consumption.

Community Engagement Beginning in 2024 with the 2025 Budget process, the city performed citywide budget engagement with community members. The Community Connectors-in-Residence provided initial community budget engagement input and understanding of top priorities from historically marginalized community members, which were advancing racial equity and implementing equity strategies and tools, providing a variety of housing types with a full range of affordability, and supporting financial security and economic opportunities regardless of race, gender, ability, or socioeconomic status (SER Goals of Responsibly Governed, Livable, and Economically Vital). The 2026 Budget process built upon the prior year’s input by engaging Community Connectors-in-Residence and community members through a citywide budget questionnaire, whose feedback emphasized SER Goals of Safe, Healthy & Socially Thriving, and Livable as primary priorities of city services and programs. For the 2027 Recommended Budget, to further build upon these efforts and implement a key strategy of the Long-Term Financial Strategy, the city conducted Fund Our Future community conversations on trade-offs of city services and service levels. Held in spring 2026, Fund Our Future had two desired outcomes: 1) education on the city budget and the Long-Term Financial Strategy and, 2) community conversations on trade-offs of city services and service levels, recognizing community demand on city services, the flattening of the city’s major revenue sources and current constrained financial environment. The Fund Our Future community conversations and results of these engagement sessions helped inform the 2027 budget process and will continue to be utilized to support budget decision-making and understanding how the community prioritizes funding decisions of community-facing city services. This information is just one component of holistic approach to budgeting and financial planning. Additional information on Fund our Future, as well as the Polling Survey Results for potential ballot measures, can be found on the June 25, 2026 council item agenda. For a full summary of Community Engagement work for the 2027 Recommended Budget, please see the September 10, 2026 Study Session memo.

Workplan Considerations The annual budget development process represents a key pillar of the annual workplan for the city’s Budget Office, which focuses on forecasting, budgetary and fiscal planning with departments across the organization in alignment with the city’s SER Framework.

Next Steps for City Council N/A - this is a standard budget item.

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Attachments A – Proposed Resolution 234 B – Proposed Resolution 235 C – Proposed Resolution 236