Attachment A - 2026 Operating Plan

DOWNTOWN BOULDER BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT OPERATING PLAN 2026 SECTION 1: GENERAL SUMMARY Creation: The Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District (BID) was created pursuant to the "Business Improvement District Act," part 12 of article 25 of title 31, Colorado Revised Statutes. Non-duplication of Services, Facilities, and Improvements: The services, facilities and improvements to be provided by the Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District are not intended to duplicate the services, facilities and improvements provided by the City of Boulder within the boundaries of the district. The Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District was created to provide enhanced or otherwise unavailable services and resources for owners of real and personal property (excluding agricultural and residential) located in downtown Boulder. Service Area: Approximately 34 blocks contiguous with the Central Area General Improvement District (CAGID) plus additional blocks to the east and west, bounded roughly by 8th Street to the west, Spruce Street to the north, 2151 Street to the east and Arapahoe Avenue to the south. The BID may be expanded in the future upon the request of the property owners. Pursuant to statute, the district shall contain only that taxable real and personal property within said boundaries, which is NOT classified as either agricultural or residential. A map of the district service area is attached to this operating plan. Powers, Functions, and Duties: The Downtown Boulder BID will have the authority through its board of directors to exercise all the powers, functions and duties specified in this Business Improvement District Act except as expressly stated in this operating plan. Board of Directors: The Board of Directors of the BID consists of nine electors of the district appointed by the City Council of the City of Boulder. Members appointed to the board represent specific geographic areas and a cross-section of interests in the district, including both large and small property and business owners. Each director serves a three-year term. Terms are staggered with three expiring every year. Four representatives from the City of Downtown Boulder BID Operating Plan 2026

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Boulder serve as ex officio members and liaisons to the board, including the City Manager (or her designee), two City Council members and the Director of Community Vitality Department. Services: The Downtown Boulder BID provides services in three major areas: marketing and promotion, service and maintenance, and economic vitality. The service plan for FY2026 includes the continuation of these services in conjunction with Downtown Boulder Partnership, Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives, and in partnership with the City’s Community Vitality Department to provide a strong identity for downtown. These partners also collaborate to communicate with downtown constituents, plan and administer programs, and promote economic vitality and community involvement. Method of Funding: The Downtown Boulder BID has four sources of revenue: Levy of ad valorem tax on taxable real and personal property, estimated to be 3.747 mills (to be finalized in December 2025). Fee for service from the City's general fund and Central Area General Improvement (CAGID) budget, and Contract with Downtown Boulder Partnership (DBP) for staffing and administration, and Contract with Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives (DBCI) for staffing, administration, and operational support at community events. Budget: Total proposed district budgeted revenue for FY2026 is $2,704,360.52. Approximately $1,616,605.88 in revenue is generated by BID property taxes and specific ownership taxes; $668,000 is fee for service from the City of Boulder, $313,254.64 is expense reimbursement from sister organizations, Downtown Boulder Partnership and Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives, and $106,500 is generated from earned income and other miscellaneous sources. Legal Restrictions: BID assessments are subject to state constitutional limitations - a vote by ratepayers is required to increase revenue over allowed limits. Term: The district will terminate 20 years from January 1, 2010, unless a petition is filed to continue it before that date.

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Existing City Services: The City of Boulder will continue to document existing city services to ensure that service levels currently provided by the city do not decrease. SECTION 2: SERVICE PLAN Marketing and Promotion The Downtown Boulder Business Improvement District leads the branding and marketing of the downtown district to both consumer and investor audiences. This work spans a wide range of activities, including brand development, advertising, image campaigns, the Pearl Street Mall banner design, website management, visitor guides, social media content, printed collateral, newsletters, public relations, and market research, among other initiatives. 2025 Accomplishments ● Launched New Creative Campaign – Welcome to the Heart of Boulder. A summer photo and video shoot featured downtown employees and residents representing a variety of backgrounds. A fall/winter campaign is in the works. ● Advertising Campaign – Carefully developed and executed to reach a broad audience, with a focus on the summer and holiday seasons. Tactics included: ● Boulder Transit ● Broadcast TV (KDVR–FOX) ● Connected TV ● Zoned Cable (Comcast) ● Podcasts (iHeart Radio) ● 5280.com ● Online Display Ads ● META ● BoulderDowntown.com – Continues to serve as the primary call-to-action in advertisements, directing visitors to use the site as the go-to resource for downtown businesses and events. The website complies with state and federal privacy and accessibility standards, ensuring that all visitors—regardless of ability—can access information, with staff support available if additional accommodations are needed. ○ Website performance - January 1 - August 28, 2025: ■ Sessions: 671,110 ■ Users: 357,114 ■ Page Views: 849,718 ■ Top States: Downtown Boulder BID Operating Plan 2026

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● Colorado (55% of website visitors - 203,513 users) ○ Boulder, Denver, Englewood - top three cities ● Arizona ● California ● Virginia ○ Age range: 25-64 years ● Social Media – Maintained a strong presence on key channels with daily content across a variety of topics. Statistics (January 1 - August 28, 2025): ○ Facebook: 34,853 Likes / 3.8M Views ○ Instagram: 32,700 Followers / 1.4M Views ● Downtown Visitor Guide – Designed, produced, and distributed 25,000 copies. By the end of September - all guides will be in circulation - selling out for the first time since pre-pandemic. As in past years, the guide included paid ads from 16 businesses and featured content on downtown history, sub-district geography (East End, West End), events and activities, itineraries, and parking/transit information. Distribution reached 50+ hotels in and around Boulder, the Denver Metro area, and along the Highway 36 corridor, as well as the Downtown Denver Visitor Center, Colorado Tourism Office Welcome Centers, the Colorado Convention Center, and the Fort Collins Visitor Information Center. ● Visitor Leads Program – Between January 1 and August 22, 2025, more than 3,546 Visitor Guides were sent electronically or physically through a leads program with the Colorado Tourism Office. Top requesting markets included Texas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, and international visitors. The electronic guide averages 92 weekly requests, with a 38% open rate and a 5% click-through rate. ● Newsletters – ● Public Bi-Weekly Newsletter: Average list of 6,660 emails; open rate: 65%; CTR:5% ● Specialized Opt-In Newsletters: ○ Foodie Friday (weekly): 2,369 emails / 63% open / 6% CTR ○ Things to Do Downtown: 3,491 emails / 68% open / 4% CTR Shopping Specials: 1,549 emails / 61% open / 2% CTR Parking/Construction Updates (as needed): 1717 emails / 65% open / 1% CTR ○ Real Estate: 562 emails / 66% open / 3% CTR ○ Job Opportunities/Employment: 952 emails / 65% open / 8% CTR ○ Business Newsletter: 1,084 emails / 63% open / 5% CTR DBP Membership Newsletter: 578 emails / 61% open / 8% CTR ● #Pearl Free Wi-Fi – Managed the district’s free Wi-Fi network thanks to a generous multi-year grant with Google. Active users averaged 4,300 per month at each of the 10

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access points (9th–20th Streets along Pearl). ● Restaurant Marketing Contractor – Hired a marketing contractor who developed and helped launch key initiatives for the restaurant community during Q1 and Q2. Under the contractor’s purview, the 2025 Restaurant Playbook was created, offering restaurants a “how-to” guide for launching promotions and other initiatives. ● Go Out To Lunch Day – Led by Visit Boulder and the BID, this promotion launched in early 2025. On the last Monday of each month, office workers and others are encouraged to put down their phones and laptops and connect in real life while supporting Boulder restaurants. ● Trail Pairing – Rounding out initiatives to support the restaurant community, this new page was created to give visitors curated recommendations of favorite hiking trails and post-hike food and drink suggestions. ● Targeted Restaurant Advertising Campaign – During Q1, a campaign was launched to support downtown restaurants, with Boulder County residents as the primary demographic and a secondary target of Denver (within a 30-mile radius). The media mix included traffic radio spots and conquesting e-blasts. This was a new tactic, with marketing dollars allocated earlier in the year than in previous years. ● New Marketing / Communications Coordinator – In June, a new staff member was hired and trained to lead social media efforts, manage newsletter content, and oversee ongoing website maintenance. ● Website Enhancements – New updates to BoulderDowntown.com include: Block Officer Page, Block Captain Page and a revamped Mural Walking Tour Map. ● 50th Anniversary Logo Input – With the City of Boulder to provide input on the design of the 2027 50th Anniversary logo for the Pearl Street Mall. Working closely with the design team at Rios, a logo was finalized and assets produced for the celebration. ● Micro-Influencer Marketing – In the fall, a new marketing strategy was deployed using local micro-influencers. Four people were selected through BabbleBox to highlight downtown’s dynamic shopping and dining scene. Content will be created and released in late September/early October. ● Holiday Promotions 2025 – Developing new initiatives to drive traffic and sales to downtown retailers, including the Downtown Dash (a shopping passport program designed to encourage shopping and sales), Cookie Crawl (to activate retail spaces for the holiday shopping season), and other seasonal activations.

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Plan for 2026 ● Creative overhaul of the Downtown Boulder website, incorporating best practices and new features to drive traffic, improve user experience, and provide greater value to businesses and visitors alike. Alongside this effort, implement focused tactics to significantly grow newsletter signups and strengthen direct communication channels (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) ● Expand Reach and Resonating Elements with the “Welcome to the Heart of Boulder” Brand Campaign. Deepen and extend the reach of the BID’s 2025 brand campaign, reinforcing downtown’s role as the cultural, social, and economic center of Boulder. This includes evolving creative assets, storytelling initiatives and cross-partnership activations that bring the campaign to life throughout the year. ● Continue Strengthening Restaurant Sector Engagement. Build on 2025’s progress supporting downtown restaurants by helping to implement promotional campaigns, collaborative events, and cross-industry partnerships that highlight the culinary scene. These efforts will focus on increasing off-season traffic (especially during Q1), attracting locals, and enhancing the visibility of downtown as a dining destination. ● Enhance Engagement with CU Students. Develop targeted content and marketing strategies that resonate with CU students, encouraging them to see downtown as their go-to destination for dining, shopping, entertainment, and community experiences. Focus on building consistent student traffic throughout the year. ● Build Momentum Toward 2027 Milestones. Begin planning for a landmark year in 2027, celebrating both the 50th anniversary of the Pearl Street Mall and the arrival of the Sundance Film Festival. Position the BID and downtown businesses to maximize visibility, tourism, and community pride tied to these milestone moments. Operations Service and Maintenance One of the BID's primary objectives is to work closely with City of Boulder Police, Community Vitality and Parks & Recreation staff to keep downtown clean, safe and inclusive for residents, visitors, and employees. 2025 Accomplishments ● Completed the fourth full year of the Ambassador program pilot in partnership with the City of Boulder - providing hospitality, maintenance and safety services throughout the district. The services to University Hill, with continued financial support from the University of Colorado, continued to prove immensely beneficial for improving the cleanliness and perception of the area among businesses, residents and visitors. Between January 1 and August 31, 2025, the Ambassador team: o Removed over 489 bags of trash and swept 783 block faces throughout the downtown district; o Logged over 5,600 hospitality contacts, over 2,800 business contacts; Downtown Boulder BID Operating Plan 2026

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Removed over 2,800 graffiti tags on private and public property; Weeded over 350 block faces on sidewalks and common areas; and Responded to nearly 300 service calls and informed over 200 contacts of City of Boulder ordinances.

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Working with our contractor, Block by Block, we completed an administrative overhaul of the program, bringing in new operational management, team lead support, and accountability training. Continued to refine systems and processes to make Ambassador operations run more smoothly and effectively, providing quarterly reports to share with our partners and funders.

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Provided over 12,000 flowers and plants (free of charge) to more than 80 businesses during the annual Spring Green program and planted flowers in 13 planters along the East End of Pearl, maintaining them with seasonal decor during the holiday season. This effort also included supporting the City’s district vitality crew by coordinating a plant order for seasonal and perennial plantings in the University Hill district.

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Installed, maintained, and stored seasonal and event banners for DBP, BOLDERBoulder, and DBCI's Student Banner art program.

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Supported DBCI's community events with operations staffing throughout the year.

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Installed and maintained over 850,000 LED lights for holiday decorations, as well as special displays along the Pearl Street Mall and a Menorah for Hanukkah. Additionally, supported the City’s efforts to activate One Boulder Plaza, with holiday lighting activations that supplement the property owners' efforts.

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Operated the Tebo Train from Memorial Day to Labor Day, offering free electric train rides to 4,840 riders, a 14% increase from 2024. This service is predominantly used by local families (52% of all riders), with 60% of Boulder riders coming from the 80302 and 80304 zip codes.

Plan for 2026 ●

Work with our partners at Community Vitality to further collaborate across all City departments on ongoing maintenance, improvement, and cleanliness programs that impact downtown.

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Continue and build upon the success of the Ambassador program through enhanced maintenance and data collection, including stakeholder, community and partner feedback. Continue to make improvements to the program while identifying ongoing support.

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Continue to work on fine-tuning internal processes and procedures that streamline operations work and make the entire team more efficient and effective.

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Continue to support the expansion of the Alley Art program and provide support for alley beautification efforts.

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Support and maintain ongoing initiatives like Spring Green, the Banner program, Tebo Train operations, the Annual holiday lighting program, etc.

Economic Vitality

The economic vitality of downtown is dependent on the success and support of multiple sectors including retail, restaurants and entertainment, personal and professional services, financial institutions, office users, and more. Transformations in each of these areas of the downtown ecosystem are arriving with increasing speed and decreasing predictability. The business improvement district team will continue to strengthen the organization's network and forge new relationships in order to provide broad structural support to the district. The BID staff works closely with city staff, property owners, and employers to maintain a vibrant business sector downtown. Major goals include: ●

Retain a vibrant and unique retail/restaurant tenant mix, so downtown remains the destination of choice for locals, visitors, and employers. ● Work with economic vitality partners to encourage new and creative uses for office space, while supporting recruitment efforts. ● Support opportunities for a diversity of local and independent businesses, including minority and women-owned businesses, to establish and thrive in downtown. ● Work with city staff to advance efforts to streamline permitting efforts and prepare for new and changing commercial uses in the district. 2025 Accomplishments ● Boulder Restaurant Alliance – Partnering with Visit Boulder and, with support from the Boulder Chamber, EatDenver, and the Colorado Restaurant Association, the BID assisted in the formation of a restaurant alliance to help Boulder restaurants collaborate on a variety of initiatives and advocacy efforts. Leading the charge for the first half of the year, the alliance is now self-sufficient and running independently, with continued support from all partnering organizations. ● Operated pedestrian-impression counting cameras through MRI Springboard to measure downtown vibrancy. ● Tracked opening and closing businesses in the district, focusing on street-level customerfacing retail, restaurants, and service businesses. ● Continued implementation of the Vision Plan for downtown, derived through extensive community outreach and study, in partnership with Downtown Boulder Partnership and Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives, and with the support of the City of Boulder. ● With the Boulder Chamber and Boulder Economic Council, worked to address the growing challenge of commercial office vacancies in Downtown Boulder and citywide. ● Collaborated with City staff and economic vitality partners on the development of the Economic Vitality Strategy Plan. Downtown Boulder BID Operating Plan 2026

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● Participated in consultant-led discussions about Improvement District Analysis, including serving on the newly-formed planning group dedicated to studying the feasibility of forming a Downtown Development Authority (DDA). ● Supported Downtown Boulder Community Initiatives to produce popular community events, like the Pearl Street Arts Festival, Bands on the Bricks, Fall Fest, the Tulip Fairy and Elf Festival, and others. Our team also assisted with other event producers to ensure downtown is activated year-round with athletic, cultural, religious, and other events. Plan for 2026 ● Continue implementation of the downtown vision leading up to the 50 th anniversary of the Pearl Street Mall. ● Identify programs to support downtown retail and restaurant viability, and focus on office vacancy re-tenanting efforts. ● Continue to grow and enhance downtown Ambassador program and operation efforts to address changing needs. ● Partner with CU and City staff to create strong mobility connections between downtown and University Hill to capitalize on new hotel developments on The Hill. ● Work closely with the Parks Department, Planning staff and City Council on planning best and highest used for the redesigned Civic Area. ● Maintain business outreach efforts in partnership with the Boulder Economic Council and City staff. ● Continue relevant data collection, and implement mobile data analysis to inform policy and support business recruitment. SECTION 3: BOARD & REAPPOINTMENT OF BOARD MEMBERS The current board members, terms and the geographic areas they represent are: Term expires December 31, 2025 Nicole Hurdle, Hurdle’s Jewelry, Pearl Street Mall Ann Klein, SmithKlein Gallery, Pearl Street Mall Term expires December 31, 2026 Aly Baca, Unico Properties, Pearl Street Mall Erica Barnett, Flatirons Bank, West End Chad Huilman, PNE Interests, Pearl Street Mall Term expires December 31, 2027 Jessica Deiter, BOOM Properties, West End Casey Easton, Food Lab, At-Large Qin Liu, Ku Cha House of Tea, At-Large Craig Moelis, Foolish Craig’s, East End

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Ex-Officio Liaisons Tina Marquis, City Council Matt Benjamin, City Council Cris Jones, Community Vitality Mark Woulf, Assistant City Manager Reappoint to a second three-year term beginning January 2026 and ending December 31, 2027: Nicole Hurdle, Hurdle’s Jewelry, Pearl Street Mall Ann Klein, SmithKlein Gallery, Pearl Street Mall

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