Matters Memo Long-Term Financial Strategy Update - 2026 Potential Tax Ballot Measures and Fund Our Future Engagement Results

Special Meeting, June 25, 2026 · item 4A: Long-Term Financial Strategy Update: 2026 Potential Ballot Items Poll Results and Fund Our Future Engagement Results Staff Time: 25 Min Coun… · 13 pages

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City of Boulder City Council Agenda Item Meeting Date: June 25, 2026 Agenda Title Long-Term Financial Strategy Update: 2026 Potential Ballot Items Poll Results and Fund Our Future Engagement Results

Staff Contact • • • •

Charlotte Huskey, Budget Officer Scott Carpenter, Principal Budget Analyst Stacy Polyakova, Senior Budget Analyst Krista Morrison, Chief Financial Officer

Executive Summary The purpose of this item is to provide an update on two efforts of the Long-Term Financial Strategy (LTFS): 1) the results of the 2026 statistically valid polling survey on five potential tax ballot measures for 2026 and 2) the results of the 2026 Fund Our Future (FOF) engagement sessions. Polling Survey Results on 2026 Potential Ballot Measures With policy guidance from City Council, staff performed statistically valid polling on likely Boulder voters to consider five potential tax ballot measures for the 2026 ballot. As shared with City Council at the March 12, April 9, and May 14 council meetings, the potential tax ballot measures are intended to support the city’s backlog of unfunded and underfunded needs, including the $400 million in identified unfunded infrastructure needs across the city’s 15 priority buildings. Staff performed statistically valid polling on five potential tax ballot measures in May 2026, the results of which are listed in the table below. Two potential measures, the

Recreation and Safety Bond ($200M and $400M), included comparison results between initial vote and informed vote. Initial Vote

Informed Vote

2026 Potential Tax Measure Yes

Unsure

Yes

Recreation and Safety Bond ($200M)

42.5%

Recreation and Safety Bond ($400M)

45.0%

Realm - Permanent Parks Expansion)

Unsure

50.0%

7.5%

45.0%

46.5%

8.5%

42.5%

12.5%

45.0%

44.0%

11.0%

41.5%

44.3%

14.3%

N/A

Residential Vacancy Excise Tax

64.0%

29.5%

6.5%

N/A

General Fund Debt Authorization

44.0%

32.8%

23.3%

N/A

Community Recreation & Safety Fund (Public

Included within Attachment A are the 2026 polling survey results. Staff and the polling firm, Probolsky Research, will present and answer council questions at the June 25 Council Study Session. City Council will further consider and decide potential 2026 tax ballot measures at the July 23 and August 6 council meetings. Staff is seeking council’s direction on any ballot measures to proceed to draft ordinances for. Staff recommends that council proceed with only one ballot measure that will increase taxes this election cycle. Thus, if a tax measure is to be considered, staff recommends council to consider either the Community Recreation & Safety Fund (i.e. Public Realm - Permanent Parks Expansion) or the Recreation and Safety Bond ($400M). Fund Our Future Community Conversation – Engagement Results A key component of the LTFS, Fund Our Future community conversations had two focus areas: 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. Staff conducted Fund Our Future community conversations on city service level tradeoffs from March 31 to April 19. Staff held eight engagement sessions to support these conversations, and included an online service level trade-off exercise that was open for public participation through April 19. Of the eight engagement sessions, staff held five online sessions and three inperson sessions. In-person sessions included community conversations with Community Connectors in Residence, Youth Opportunities Advisory Board, and older adults at the Age Well West Center. The Fund Our Future community conversations and results of these engagement sessions will help inform the development of the Long-Term Comprehensive Financial

Plan as well as the 2027 budget process, ultimately utilized to support budget decisionmaking and understanding how the community prioritizes funding decisions of community-facing city services. Overall participation included 599 responses, including 63 in-person and virtual participation across the eight engagement sessions and 536 online public-link survey participants. City Service

Rank

Ongoing Maintenance of Facilities

Mean Score 6.23

Wildfire Response

6.23

Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation

6.03

SAMPS (Encampment Abatement)

5.78

Pavement Management Services

5.62

Police Patrol Emergency Response

5.30

Snow and Ice Response

5.21

Paramedic Emergency Response

4.64

Land Management Science and Research

3.80

Education, Outreach (Open Space)

3.77

Youth and Older Adult Indoor Recreation

3.74

Age Well Centers

3.53

Indoor Aquatic Programming

3.43

Affordable Housing Investments

3.39

Older Adult (60+) Case Management

3.34

Youth Services Initiatives (YSI)

3.21

Arts and Cultural Grants

3.17

Circular Economy and Zero Waste

3.14

Sheltering and Day Services

3.14

Building Permit Review

3.09

Energy Community Programs

2.92

Family Resource Schools

2.90

Business Incentives

2.89

Rental Assistance

2.77

Re-Housing

2.72

Included within Attachment B is a synthesis of the results compiled by a city consultant, GovStrategist, who helped to facilitate and design the engagement.

Questions for Council 1) Do council members have questions regarding the results of the 2026 statistically valid polling survey on the five tax ballot measures? 2) Do council members wish to proceed with a tax increase ballot measure to support city infrastructure and operations, with focus on city facilities? If yes, do council members agree with staff recommendation to consider one of the two ballot measures, Recreation and Safety Bond ($400M) or Permanent Parks Fund expansion? 3) Do council members wish to proceed with the vacancy excise tax ballot measure? 4) Do council members have questions regarding the results of the Fund Our Future community engagement?

Alignment with City Plans and City Council History Sustainability, Equity and Resilience (SER) Framework and Citywide Strategic Plan Alignment SER Framework Goal Area Responsibly Governed. These two efforts of the Long-Term Financial Strategy help inform ballot measure options that can help to directly or indirectly support all seven SER goal areas by increasing revenues and/or increasing revenue flexibility. The community engagement can help to directly or indirectly support all seven SER goal areas by informing budget decision making via community input that increases funding in programs aligned with SER goals. Citywide Strategic Plan Strategy 12: Implement organizational and financial best practices to continuously improve asset management, customer experience, and project and program performance. The ballot measure options and community engagement can also help to directly or indirectly support all the other citywide strategic priorities as the guiding principles of the

LTFS aim to increase funding flexibility, reliability, and sufficiency, allowing the city to fully fund its strategic priorities, community priorities, core services, and the city’s existing assets. Staff Notes This item is part of the city’s LTFS, focused on the development of a comprehensive strategy to help guide fiscal decision-making and long-term financial health of the city. As part of the LTFS and with policy guidance from the Financial Strategy Committee and full City Council, staff were directed to develop a Multi-Year Ballot Measure Strategy and LTFS community engagement. These ballot measure options and the FOF community engagement are an outcome of the LTFS Multi-Year Ballot Measure Strategy framework, City Council policy guidance, and the guiding principles of the LTFS to ensure funding reliability and sufficiency for the city’s existing assets, core unfunded needs, and future services and programs.

Alignment with Additional City Plans Long-Term Financial Strategy The LTFS builds upon prior policy guidance from the Blue-Ribbon Commission (2008 and 2010 reports), the 2019 Budgeting for Community Resilience Report, and more recent lessons learned from the pandemic. The LTFS is guided by three main principles: 

 

Fiscal Sustainability and Sufficiency: Funding core services at stable and predictable service levels. With revenue that is diverse, flexible and sufficient to meet needs and community priorities. Equity: Advancing equity by creating revenue structures and financial policies that reduce tax and fee burdens on historically disadvantaged groups. Resiliency: Increasing resilience allowing the city to anticipate, adapt, and recover quickly from adversity and change, supported by the diversification of revenues and maintaining sufficient reserve levels.

The Multi-Year Ballot Measure Framework, including the 2026 potential tax ballot measures, and Fund Our Future community conversations were designed to support the guiding principles of the LTFS. Given the city’s financial constraints with flattening and declining major revenue sources, backlog of unfunded capital and operating needs, and continued uncertainty of federal funding, the LTFS represents a critical initiative to continue to guide the city toward a more sustainable, sufficient, and predictable financial landscape – one that balances key citywide needs and community priorities.

In 2025, staff completed the first phase of the LTFS, advancing efforts to diversify and stabilize city revenues and prepare for community trade-off conversations on service levels. Key accomplishments include: 1) Long-Term Financial Plan a. Established LTFS guiding principles of Fiscal Sustainability and Sufficiency, Equity, and Resiliency b. Performed a current state assessment against the recommendations within the Blue-Ribbon Commission Reports 2) Alternative Funding Mechanisms a. Developed the city’s first Comprehensive Fee Inventory b. Implemented new or expanded alternative funding mechanisms in the 2026 Budget, including the Transportation Maintenance Fee, the singlefamily housing impact fee, speed-on-green photo enforcement revenue, and parking fees 3) Core Service Levels a. Developed a comprehensive, standardized list of city services and associated service levels to support trade-off discussions of levels of city services during Fund Our Future community conversations in March-April 2026 4) Multi-Year Ballot Measure Strategy a. Developed a multi-year ballot measure framework for 2025 and 2026 tax ballot measures, focused on unmet needs and additional investments supporting key community priorities b. Successfully passed the permanent extension of the 0.3% Community, Culture, Resilience, and Safety Tax (72% approval) and associated debt authority (65%) In 2026, the LTFS focuses on:    

Developing a five-year comprehensive financial plan. Prioritizing and evaluating alternative revenue opportunities. Conducting Fund Our Future community discussions on core service level tradeoffs. Developing potential 2026 tax ballot measures within the broader multi-year ballot strategy.

City Council History During the City Council meeting on April 3, 2025, staff presented a process overview and update on the LTFS. During this meeting, as mentioned above, staff received feedback from City Council on the Multi-Year Ballot Measure Strategy to consider

exploring two tax ballot measures for 2025 and the approach for 2026 ballot measures. Additionally, staff received feedback and guidance on the proposed Fund Our Future community engagement strategy for 2026. City Council provided guidance to staff informing the city’s Multi-Year Ballot Measure Strategy during the May 8, 2025 Study Session on 2025 Ballot Measures. Staff received feedback to explore possible ballot measures that prioritize general purpose funding, revenue flexibility, and stability. Potential ballot measures would also focus on reducing tax burdens for historically disadvantaged groups while continuing to invest in taking care of what we have. Staff were also directed to pursue an expanded, comprehensive approach that contemplates the interaction between the city, county, and state. During the June 26, 2025 Council Meeting, staff presented the results of the statistically valid polling survey on the two tax ballot items that were under council consideration: 1) An extension of the existing 0.30% CCRS Sales & Use Tax from 2036 to 2050 or permanently to continue to support city infrastructure and maintenance projects, as well as nonprofit capacity building and capital investments. 2) The creation of a Public Realm (Parks & Public Improvement) Property Tax, which would increase the existing Permanent Parks property tax from 0.900 mills to 2.252 mills and expand the use of the tax, allow debt issuance, to infrastructure and capital maintenance projects more broadly in the public realm, such as parks, open space, civic buildings and areas, and the public right-of-way such as streets, sidewalks, bike lanes, and multi-use paths. Based on the results of the polling survey, council placed two measures on the November 2025 ballot, one to permanently extend the city’s existing 0.3% CCRS Sales & Use Tax, and another to increase debt authorization for the CCRS Fund up to $262 million. Both measures were approved by voters with the CCRS extension receiving 72.38% in support and the CCRS debt authorization receiving 64.83% in support. During the City Council meeting on March 12, 2026, staff presented a spectrum of potential ballot measures for City Council consideration for 2026 to advance the city’s fiscal sustainability and financial health, increase equity, and ensure resilience. Transformational Changes: Significant changes that adjust the city’s tax base to support revenue sufficiency or changes that reduce the city’s overreliance on sales tax. 1) Sales Tax on Services. 2) Increase Property Tax, Decrease Sales Tax. Mid-Range Incremental Changes: Changes which increase taxes for specific purposes or expand on the usage of existing taxes within dedicated funds.

3) Property Tax Mill Levy Increase (1.352 mills). 4) Parks and Public Improvement Mill Levy (1.352 mills) or Expansion Only. 5) Second Homes (Residential Vacancy) Excise Tax. Structural Changes: Changes that do not increase taxes but provide the city with more flexibility and increase ongoing potential revenue diversity. 6) General Fund Debt Authorization (No tax increase). 7) Increase Property Tax Cap (15 mills). 8) “Public Realm” Sales Tax (consolidation of existing dedicated funds). City Council narrowed the 2026 ballot measures for further consideration at the May 14, 2026, Study Session: 1) Parks and Public Improvement Mill Levy (1.352 mills) or Expansion Only 2) Second Homes (Residential Vacancy) Excise Tax 3) General Fund Debt Authorization (No tax increase) 4) “Public Realm” Sales Tax (consolidation of existing dedicated funds) During the April 9, 2026 Council Study Session, staff presented the state of buildings across the city’s portfolio of over 75 buildings and shared a high-level overview of the draft Facilities Investment Strategy with a focus on the priority buildings category. Staff presented in the priority buildings category 15 buildings of most concern because they are failing and they are vital to our community to support emergency response, community safety and provide core community services. The city’s three recreation centers fall into this category in addition to the Public Safety Building, Fire Stations, West Age Well, and several core maintenance buildings. During the May 14, 2026 Council Study Session, staff presented the narrowed listing of ballot measure options and provided different scenarios for polling. The measures that were selected to proceed were: 1) Parks and Public Improvement Mill Levy Increase (1.352 mills) and Expansion or Expansion Only 2) Residential Vacancy Excise Tax 3) General Fund Debt Authorization (No tax increase) 4) $200M General Obligation Bond Mill Levy 5) $400M General Obligation Bond Mill Levy

Analysis 2026 Potential Tax Ballot Measures and Polling Results

Included in Attachment A are the comprehensive polling results of the statistically valid polling survey for five potential 2026 tax ballot measures. A summary of the results is included in the table below.

Initial Vote

Informed Vote

2026 Potential Tax Measure Yes

Unsure

Yes

Recreation and Safety Bond ($200M)

42.5%

Recreation and Safety Bond ($400M)

45.0%

Realm - Permanent Parks Expansion)

Unsure

50.0%

7.5%

45.0%

46.5%

8.5%

42.5%

12.5%

45.0%

44.0%

11.0%

41.5%

44.3%

14.3%

N/A

Residential Vacancy Excise Tax

64.0%

29.5%

6.5%

N/A

General Fund Debt Authorization

44.0%

32.8%

23.3%

N/A

Community Recreation & Safety Fund (Public

The polling results signal difficulty in achieving voter approval (50%+) for four of the five potential tax measures. Feedback from the poll results indicates that voters clearly understand the importance of facility maintenance, and the reality that deferring maintenance and replacement will cost more over time. The feedback also indicates the primary concern of voters is if the city is effectively managing its existing funds, and a desire to not increase taxes. • • • •

82% of survey participants agree that delaying necessary facility and infrastructure maintenance only increases future cost (Attachment A, slide 4) 76% of survey participants believe that the growing gap between costs and income is real (Attachment A, slide 23) 48% of survey participants agree that the City needs additional financial resources to meet community expectations (Attachment A, slide 5) 38% of survey participants do not want to reduce funding for any city infrastructure (Attachment A, slide 3)

Options for council to consider are: 1. Proceed with a tax increase ballot measure, recognizing a significant education and advocacy campaign would be necessary to achieve a passing vote. 2. Do not proceed with a tax increase ballot measure this year, but initiate a community education campaign for the next 12-24 months and reconsider a tax increase ballot measure for the 2027 or 2028 ballot. 3. Do not proceed with a tax increase ballot measure this year.

Staff recommends City Council consider option 1 – proceed with one tax increase ballot measure, either 1) the $400M Recreation and Safety Bond or 2) the Community Recreation & Safety Fund (Public Realm – Permanent Parks Expansion) tax measure. Staff’s recommendation is based on the following considerations: •

•

Staff has shared the current financial constraints the city faces, with a comprehensive overview of the city facilities’ backlog presented at the April 9, 2026 Council Study Session. The city is currently facing a $400M unfunded infrastructure and major maintenance backlog for city facilities. The city cannot solve this backlog with existing funding alone. These two property tax ballot measures, the Recreation and Safety Bond and the Public Realm – Permanent Parks Expansion, would significantly address critical city facilities investment without implementing reductions on existing city service levels or making significant adjustments to other planned capital projects. o The Recreation and Safety Bond ($400M) would enable the city to address near-term city investments in most of the identified 15 city priority buildings, such as replacement of the South Boulder Recreation Center, renovation of the North Boulder Recreation Center, and construction of a new public safety building. This would require a second ballot measure to amend the charter so that debt limitation could be no more than the “actual value” (rather than the “assessed value” as currently written) of the taxable property within the city. o The Permanent Parks and Recreation Fund Expansion supports the city’s goals of long-term financial stability by providing enhanced flexibility of funding, increased stability by shifting toward property tax, which is a more reliable source of funding, and greater revenue sufficiency through an increase of approximately $7.5M in annual city revenues – key to supporting infrastructure needs and operations well into the future.

In evaluating these two tax measures specifically, the bond measure would address the largest challenge facing the city for capital needs, which cannot be solved with existing revenues. The larger bond also includes multiple buildings addressing a broader range of services. Polling indicates Boulder voters agree that delaying necessary facility and infrastructure maintenance only increases future cost. Ensuring ongoing operating costs are funded is essential for any increased level of service provided through enhanced facilities, so if the bond proceeds and passes, funding the operating costs will be an important future conversation. Staff recognize the risk in proceeding with a ballot measure and failing. Option 2 of initiating a community education campaign for 2027 or 2028 ballot could be a way to mitigate that risk; however, education and advocacy will be needed regardless of

whether the city proceeds with the tax measure in 2026 (Option 1) or in the next couple of years (Option 2). Vacancy Excise Tax Measure Polling results indicate a likely chance of this measure passing at the ballot with 64% of survey participants responding they would vote yes in support of this measure. Legal considerations were provided to Council on May 2, 2025 and further updates are forthcoming. Fund Our Future Community Conversations Staff conducted Fund Our Future community conversations on city service level tradeoffs from March 31 to April 19, holding eight engagement sessions and an online service level trade-off exercise that was open for public participation. Staff focused on two key areas within these community conversations, including 1) educating on the city budget and current financial constraints, and 2) performing a prioritization trade-offs exercise to understand community priorities of city service levels. Staff held three in-person engagement sessions and five online sessions. In-person sessions included community conversations with Community Connectors in Residence, Youth Opportunities Advisory Board, and older adults at the Age Well West Center. Community members were asked to allocate 100 dots (or, funding priorities) across 25 community-facing city services, weighing service levels to increase, decrease, or maintain the current city service level. These included: • • •

0-3 dots: Comfortable with providing less of the service than currently provided 4 dots: Maintain the current service level 5 or more dots: Prioritize more of the service than currently provided

Overall participation included 599 responses, including 63 in-person and virtual participants across the eight engagement sessions and 536 online public-link survey participants. As highlighted in the summary table below, of the 25 community-facing city services, those scoring higher than a mean score of 4 dots (highlighted in red) indicate community member prioritization of service level. Included in Attachment B is a detailed synthesis of the results compiled by a city consultant, GovStrategist, who helped to facilitate the engagement. The Fund Our Future community conversations serve as a key component to understanding community priorities when performing funding decisions, and results of these engagement sessions will help inform the development of the Long-Term Comprehensive Financial Plan as well as the 2027 budget process, ultimately utilized to support budget decision-making.

City Service

Rank

Ongoing Maintenance of Facilities

Mean Score 6.23

Wildfire Response

6.23

Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation

6.03

SAMPS (Encampment Abatement)

5.78

Pavement Management Services

5.62

Police Patrol Emergency Response

5.30

Snow and Ice Response

5.21

Paramedic Emergency Response

4.64

Land Management Science and Research

3.80

Education, Outreach (Open Space)

3.77

Youth and Older Adult Indoor Recreation

3.74

Age Well Centers

3.53

Indoor Aquatic Programming

3.43

Affordable Housing Investments

3.39

Older Adult (60+) Case Management

3.34

Youth Services Initiatives (YSI)

3.21

Arts and Cultural Grants

3.17

Circular Economy and Zero Waste

3.14

Sheltering and Day Services

3.14

Building Permit Review

3.09

Energy Community Programs

2.92

Family Resource Schools

2.90

Business Incentives

2.89

Rental Assistance

2.77

Re-Housing

2.72

Anticipated Fiscal and Workplan Impacts Please refer to the May 14, 2026 Council Study Session, for the fiscal analysis related to each of the ballot measure options.

Equity Analysis The ballot measures and community engagement work is part of the city’s LTFS, one of the guiding principles of the LTFS is equity. The LTFS aims to advance equity by creating revenue structures and financial policies that reduce tax and fee burdens on historically disinvested groups.

Climate, Resilience, and Sustainability Considerations Any of these ballot measure options could potentially lead to increases in funding for city services or capital projects, which would inevitably lead to increases in energy consumption or the use of materials. Simultaneously, these options could provide more funding for the city’s environmental, climate, resilience, and sustainability goals.

Community Engagement Please refer to Attachment B for a report on the results of the Fund Our Future community engagement.

Next Steps for City Council First reading of proposed ballot measures is scheduled for July 23, 2026. Second reading and public hearing on August 6, 2026. If needed there is a continued second/third reading on August 20, 2026. The last regular council meeting date that council may approve ballot measures is August 27, 2026. Ballot measures must be certified to Boulder County by September 4, 2026.

Digital Accessibility The City of Boulder is committed to digital accessibility. Some content may not be fully accessible due to technical limitations or issues. For alternate formats or accommodations, please visit Accessibility | City of Boulder or contact accessibility@bouldercolorado.gov.

Attachments Attachment A – 2026 Polling Survey Results on Potential Tax Ballot Measures Attachment B – 2026 Fund Our Future Engagement Results Attachment C – Fund Our Future Community Prioritization Exercise on City Service Levels