Public hearings: Boulder County Cultural Council/Scientific and Cultural Facilities District Funding Allocations; Commissioners’ Considerati

Related Affordable presented a plan to buy and rehab the 30-unit Heliostation Apartments in Lafayette and asked BCHA to serve as special limited partner. The project needs a property tax exemption to work, defers 95 percent of the developer fee until year 11, and keeps all 30 units at or below 60 percent of area median income.

“the project is not feasible without the tax exemption”

Commissioner Stolzmann said she will likely vote against the Heliostation deal because the property faces no threat of loss of affordability and the school district and city would each lose thousands of dollars a year in tax revenue. Commissioner Loachamin said she was offended by the early opposition on an item that was only an informational presentation.

“I don't see the need to subsidize a private side developer”

Boulder County Cultural Council vice chair Ed Costaldo presented the 2026 SCFD tier 3 funding plan. Available funds fell to about 1.3 million dollars while applications rose 13 percent to 105, so the council funded general operating support by score and funded projects only if they scored 10 or higher out of 15 on county impact, leaving some project applicants unfunded this cycle.

“for every dollar that was requested, we had roughly 59 cents available to fund with”

County staff and advocates Casey Hedrick and Jake Marsing presented the Brighter Start Boulder County plan, a permanent 2.579 mill property tax raising about 30 million dollars a year. The plan would backfill the frozen CCAP subsidy waitlist, add a tuition assistance program for families up to about 150,000 dollars in income, expand infant and toddler slots by 30 percent, and fund a workforce stabilization fund for providers.

“our childcare system and Boulder County is at a crisis point”

Commissioner Loachamin asked why the tax is proposed in perpetuity rather than for a set term, questioned the 150,000 dollar income cutoff for tuition assistance, and asked whether comparable programs in Larimer, Denver, and Summit counties use property or sales tax. Presenters said they would accept a sunset of 10 years or more but prefer perpetuity so families can rely on the program.

“we're proposing this in perpetuity because we know that it takes a long time”

More than 20 public speakers, including parents, child care providers, a pediatrician, business owners, and a school social worker, testified in support of referring the measure to the ballot. They described child care costs over 20,000 dollars a year per child, a CCAP enrollment freeze with over 1,000 children waitlisted, and provider turnover near 30 percent due to low wages.

“Parents can't afford to pay. Teachers can't afford to stay.”

A finance professional, Yiji Wang, testified that the plan lacks financial rigor, that most funding goes to subsidies rather than capacity, and that the administrative budget of 3 million dollars exceeds the amount budgeted for compensation increases. One other speaker opposed the tax entirely on unrelated grounds.

“the plan as it currently stands is not financially or economically viable”

Commissioner Loachamin said she supports letting voters decide but asked the board to consider shortening the tax from perpetuity to 15 years and lowering the rate from 2.579 to 2.0 mills, out of concern for lower-income residents who may not know the hearing is happening. Commissioner Stolzmann and Commissioner Levy both said they preferred keeping the rate and perpetuity as proposed, and the board did not change either.

“let the voters decide was the quote”

Commissioner Levy read out several wording corrections to the ballot resolution, including a missing comma, a wrong reference to K-12 teachers instead of early childhood educators, a redundant paragraph, and a mill rate typo of 2.6 instead of 2.579. The county attorney confirmed the changes raise no legal problem.

“I don't want anybody to have the impression that there is something fixed and final about assessment rates”