Transcript

0:00:17All right, Commissioners, are you ready? Yes, we are, thank you. And we are recording. Okay, good morning. Today is July 23rd, 2026. This is a meeting of the Boulder County Housing Authority Board of Directors, and we have all three members present this morning, and we're here for our monthly housing authority meeting. And we just get it open. We will start with any comments from members of the public if we have anyone who's joined us for purposes of public comment and seeing that nobody has indicated they'd like to speak. We will move on to our report from our director, Susan Lopez Baker. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for being here with us today. We'll go ahead and just jump right into the agenda. We do have a bit to cover, and we also have a guest today doing a presentation. But I would like to start with my director's update. I want to note that last week, myself and staff, Representative Colorado at the Colorado Narrow Conference Symposium Summer Symposium in Nashville. And I just want to kind of share a few of the things that I learned while there. One, we met as a mountain planes Narrow Board, which is really great to meet together and be in community with our fellow mountain partners, such as Utah, Montana, Colorado. Shared some really good ideas, particularly

0:01:54around how to meet with HUD. Our regional director, Tim Geithner, and so we're going to create a task force around the work and dignity coalition and sort of hear what their goals are for our region and go from there. So we're going to do some data tracking first. We still do not believe that many people have joined the work and dignity from our mountain plane region. In fact, we haven't heard of anyone, but we want to verify that and kind of go from there. Otherwise it was a really great conference, a lot of really good data shared. My staff has been hearing me talk about it all week, but particularly around data with youth and the opportunities zones that are created when affordable housing is built. So, and I think this obviously speaks really true here in Boulder County, where the diverse incomes, particularly higher level incomes. And so the importance of building affordable housing where people can still live and live next door to those who have higher incomes and can be exposed to so many different factors. Um, some of the data that they share that was really interesting to me is because they've been tracking it now for so long is, um, data around children growing up in affordable housing. Is really sort of at that intersection where so many health indicators

0:03:07and economic indicators improve over the course of their life well into adulthood. One of the really great pieces that they shared was even when siblings, they are now tracking civilians. And when siblings move into the same housing development and affordable housing development, one might be 10 years old, the other may be five years old. That five year old starts outpacing their sibling throughout life. And so that was just really interesting to kind of hear how important resident services are, how we really do have opportunities to build on workforce, trainings for our youth. Um, and it did talk about, you know, adults maybe don't see those same advancements. Um, but nonetheless, how important multifamily is. And then of course a lot of data on aging in place. Uh, so overall it was really nice to just, you know, kind of have some tools to reference and go back to and remind all of us why we do this work. So lots of good takeaways. Can I just stop you for, oh, go ahead. I also had a question. Have you used the phrase opportunity zone and I just want to declare that you don't mean a federally designated opportunity. So and you're using the words not like capital O, capital Z correct. Okay. Yeah. I was just going to say, you know, you, you, um, indicated

0:04:18that Roz Cheddy was a presenter and that's exactly the data that I'm familiar with that he studied for years and years. And yeah, the benefit, the earlier, the younger the kid is when they move into a neighborhood with mixed incomes, um, even if their own economic circumstances don't change, you know, they, they get this benefit just from being in an environment that is not what I don't know if the turn is still used. But areas of concentrated poverty. And, you know, moving in dais with mixed income, I was really glad to see that he was there and you had an opportunity to hear him speak. Yeah. It was great. That's exactly that. Anything else, any questions, um, otherwise really great, like I said, um, always good to be in community. The Naro National Conference will be held here in Denver for the first time in a long time. And so it's October 15 through 17th.

0:05:15Um, and of course we'd love to have some commissioner presence. And I did share that via email with you all. And so if the questions, please let us know. But, um, BCHA Staff is happy to get people registered if needed. Um, on the June 30th work session, we did cover the deed restrictions and rent increases. Uh, this meeting was moved up a few days. And so we really didn't get extra few days to finish the rent increase recommendation. Uh, so that's something that the finance team and our operations team are working on together. So today we won't hear about the rent increases, but we will, we are fully prepared to discuss deed restrictions for there. Um, a little bit finally movement on the Casa USDA diminished needs waiver. As you know, we've been waiting for quite some time to kind of push that, uh, forward and hopefully secure our permanent waiver. Uh, so, uh, I think it's good news that they're looking at us again.

0:06:11That's great. They're reviewing our, our, um, you know, our operational information on the tenants. However, they have changed their income requirements. And so that has, um, put the operations team on thorough review of our residents on the property. And it does look like we will have two residents who will likely no longer qualify. So we're working really closely with them to make sure that they can land softly. They've been notified and we are rectifying that with USDA. And after this, we do, we are very hopeful that we have met all other requirements to you secure that permanent waiver. On the Casa Note, um, as you may remember, we have done over three million dollars in rehab on that project over the last year on that property over the last year. And so we, uh, would like to celebrate that. And that is on August 13th.

0:07:04A part of that celebration is a renaming just the community room after Nino Gallo, who's, as you know, very beloved in the community, longtime Boulder County employee who passed away in 2020 and was a dear friend of mine personally as I worked with him at CAP. He, uh, obviously a mentor for me over many years, uh, and in fact, my now eight year old, I had here while I was employed with Boulder County and did the, um, bring your child to work program, your infants at work program. And Nino was my caretaker and to have so many memories of him just rocking my own eight year old to sleep. So this is personal for me and really excited that BCHA has the opportunity to name a building after a project. He was very well involved with, um, back in 1993 helping secure this first USDA property here in Colorado, raising the funds, the Capitol funds for it. Um, so really glad that this is kind of full circle. The Yarty Conversion happened July 1st and we are knee deep in sorting through all of the transition, uh, woes and celebrations. I think we had a staff meeting yesterday in all staff meeting. And staff was very positive and was able to share some good things that are happening in the transition, albeit there as a

0:08:22bit. It's been a rough bumpy road. Um, we are reassured by Yardi and our, uh, consultant team that this is normal and that things are actually going well, even though it doesn't feel like it necessarily on our side, um, of course we want things to be as smooth as possible always and staff really does pride themselves on the delivery of quality service. And so it's been a little bit tough for staff, but they're working through it. They're learning every day. We're introducing new training modules. Uh, so we push forward on that one. Um, let's see some of the HUD activities we're tracking mostly just still waiting for some decisions. Uh, there's been some annual compliance reporting and required documentation reviews. Um, but nothing substantial to report on. Can I ask, I have a question about that HUD review portion. How many of our properties are HUD fight, just HUD properties at this point. Just had, I mean, that's maybe a tricky question in that like some, the funds in some of them. So then that would technically be. Yeah. But the HUD regulated is everything that has any amount of HUD money in it. Considered HUD regulated. I think like in regards to some of the inspire updates and things like that, like we're really trying to meet their standards because of our voucher holder.

0:09:49So wherever we have voucher holders and that's where HUD compliance becomes really important for us as well. So I can get you that information, but I would say probably most of our portfolio has some HUD touch to it. Okay. I mean, I know in like BHP, for example, they were over the years really working to, um, buy out all the HUD properties, you know, and they didn't have that many. And I think like 30th in college was like their last one. Yeah. Um, and that's what used to just be called public housing. Oh, so we have four public housing for, yeah. We have converted all of our public housing has been converted within BCHA as well. Okay. So pretty that, that was a pretty big transition between 2009 and 2012 by what I can tell from our records, which is, uh, where the, um, the bonds by those, the 2012, 2013 years, a lot of that was former public housing. Okay. So these new HUD regulations around citizenship around income re - verification. That applies even if it's not public housing. Correct. Okay. Correct. Okay.

0:10:59Let's see on number six for the SLP request. We do have our guest here today. So you'll be hearing on a project in Lafayette. Uh, it is the developers related affordable. They do a lot of rehabilitation projects throughout the country. Um, looking forward to hearing their presentation today as well. But we have submitted all of their financial documents to SB Clark and they have completed their review, which was also attached in your packet. Um, they have also completed all of the application on our end. So they are ready to take the next step and seek an SLP approval. Today, we're just hearing from them. You'll be able to ask questions, uh, and in a future meeting, we'll have a resolution to bring forward around whether or not, uh, we choose to engage in SLP with this property in Lafayette, uh, and then also I think we did include their letter from the city endorsing the project and really wanting to see this project move forward.

0:11:59Um, the city of Lafayette did give them, um, PABs last year, uh, so they are investing as well. Okay. The lions, um, outreach continues for the sewered property. They have now wrapped up five total community engagements and are now analyzing that data. And so we'll do a share out in the coming weeks about what we've learned. Um, and we've shared a little already, but we know multifamily is important deeply affordable is something we continue to hear. And those are difficult things to deliver on. So we're trying to get creative on what type of project we can bring forward. And then the Lafayette will be corner outreach had an event last week Thursday. It went really well. We had approximately 20 people attend. Um, the Partner group was involved as a facilitator. Uh, I think that helped. That went nicely. We had a presentation followed up by a panel of questions, uh, facilitated by Partner. And then there was some open comment as well. Um, but all was good. People are very excited, particularly around the home ownership. Um, I think we received some like beautiful notes about just how important this is and what a beautiful property is and how people are thankful that they can live here. So. That was a really nice to hear. I think my staff has been joking all week

0:13:21that there was applause at the end and they were like, we never get an applause. So I thought that was really great. Uh, let's see upcoming events. Um, August 6th is our next community outreach event on Willowby Corner once again, held at Willowby Corner. That is our legally required outreach event. And so legal notices have been posted this week to ensure that we are in compliance. And then, uh, the Cost of Celebration, I've already talked about. And then our BCHA Border Tree has actually been moved. I think I noted that was August 24th. It looks like it has now been moved to Monday, September 28th. That's all I have for the directors update. Can you switch slides Kelly. Thank you. And so I will, um, happy to introduce Zac, who is with related affordable talking today about the Helio station apartments, uh, Zac. I will hand it over to you. Please introduce yourself for the record. Hi everyone. Can you hear me all right? Yeah.

0:14:28Zac Silber Senior Associate on the Acquisitions and Development Team for related affordable based in New York. All right. Um, thank you for inviting me to the board meeting. It's a pleasure to meet with you all discuss the project and answer any questions that you may have. Uh, I'm here to present helio station apartments, which is a 30 unit affordable housing preservation project at 5. 50 north 111th Street in Lafayette. And to request the board's approval for BCHA to participate as special limited partner. Quick background on related affordable where you are a New York - based owner operator. We have around 55, 000 units across more than 20 states. We have over 50 years of experience and affordable housing. And we have an active presence here in Colorado. Our sole mission is preserving existing affordable communities keeping them high quality and affordable for the long - term. And that's exactly what we're here proposing. So the project Heliostation, this is a proposed acquisition and rehabilitation. We plan on renewing the project - based rental subsidy here, uh, for the maximum term of 20 years. Affordable restriction, uh, with CHAFA as the attacks credit agency. On the physical side, we are planning a 2. 3 million dollar renovation, which is roughly 76, 000 dollars per unit This will address deferred maintenance and upgrade both units and common

0:16:16spaces. Next slide, please. Why this matters? It prevents displacement of this fully occupied community. It secures 30 low income units for Lafayette families and for Boulder County. It improves the day - to - day lives for the residents that live there. And we are adding amenities, um, that don't currently exist. We are adding a community garden. We are adding in unit washer and dryers. We are adding dishwashers adding air conditioning, adding in unit free Wi - Fi, um, plus a new camera system for neighborhood safety. So these are all amenities that don't currently exist. On local support. We have strong local backing the mayor of Lafayette sent a letter of support. Um, early on in our process, backing both our chaffa tax credit request and this Boulder County SLP exemption request as well. The city also assigned its full 2025 private activity bond allocation, which was just under two million dollars to chaffa for this project specifically. And, um, we have a development fee waiver request in the city right now. They just want to help us, um, but this pretty tight deal. Um, so we have a great level of local support from the city of Lafayette. We were hoping that, uh, Bill would be able to join today, but they are tied up, uh, with something today. Um, all right. Next slide, please.

0:18:00All right. So we're targeting in October, 2026 closing, uh, with about a 10 month construction period and being substantially complete by mid 2027 residents will stay in place throughout with temporary relocation only if needed. This only works with the tax exemption, this deal, um, the project is not feasible without the tax exemption. Um, it allows our lender, chaff our tax retor to underwrite, uh, the renovation. And there is no out of pocket cost two Boulder County, no capital contributions, all obligations are non - recourse. Next slide, please. Uh, so our request is Board Approval to, um, serve for BCHA to serve as special limited partner. Um, again, this is a preservation of 30 units of affordable housing for families at or below 60 percent of AMI and it directly advances BCHA's mission preserving affordable housing stock, improving quality of life, addressing deferred maintenance, uh, and nothing out of pocket for BCHA. That is it for me. Happy to answer any questions, uh, that you have.

0:19:22Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Um, Zach, uh, commissioners, any questions. I have a question. Have you already closed on the property? No, this is, um, a direct acquisition into preservation. So we do not currently own the property. We have a purchase option. And it's contingent upon our approval and things like that. Or not. Um, it is not contingent upon your approval, but the acquisition of the property is only feasible if we get the exemption. From a financial perspective. Yep. I have a couple of questions. Who is the current owner of the property. They're called GHC. And so this was this lie tech property previously. It wasn't ever in our portfolios. Right. Correct. Yeah. And, um, so in the analysis by SB Clark, they talk about your developer fee and that you're going to defer 95 percent of the development fee. And then it would be paid off in year 11. Um, 1. 7, almost 1.

0:20:448 million dollars. How are you going to be able to finance that in by year 11. Yeah. So, um, essentially chaffa, the tax credit agency allows you to defer your developer fee as a source for the transaction in order to fill your gap. Um, every developer wants to have closing, but that's not practical, especially in an interest or environment like this where we're trying to make a meaningful impact on our renovation. Um, so CHAFA, the tax year rules really are, um, that you're, you have to be able to demonstrate that your developer fee can be paid back within 15 years, which is the tax credit compliance period. So year 11 is regarded as kind of a healthy, uh, point in time where any cash flows, um, produced by the project will pay down the developer fee before there are any surplus cash distributions to any of the partners. So that's essentially what that means for those 11 years, the priority will go to paying back the developer on that developer fee. Um, and this is pretty common for us, um, we're deferring 95 percent of our fee in order to make the deal pencil. Okay.

0:22:09And so you're the other financing structure as such that it'll cash flow and you'll either accumulate that and then pay it in year 11 or pay it down. But it, it, it will come from cash flow. Correct. So it is paid down, um, starting in year one. So it's, it's paid down from years one through 11 and 11 is the year, um, forecasted where the developer will be paid in full. So it'll be paid over time. Okay. And, um, related, um, affordables. I looked you up online. Do you have a for - profit arm of this organization at all. We are for - profit business. Um, we have a nonprofit arm of our business, which is the related affordable foundation. And they do work in our communities that benefit the residents and they partner with local nonprofits to bring services, uh, to, to the residents and the populations we serve, but related affordable is a for - profit entity. And you know what? I actually meant to ask, not whether you're for - profit. But do you also build or own and manage in some other way market - rate units. Related affordable, strictly works in the Affordable Space and related affordable as part of a larger related companies. And there are other business units within the related companies that work on market rate development,

0:23:47office development, hospitality. Um, so we're pretty big conglomerate, but related affordable solely works on affordable housing preservation, Section 8 properties, long - term housing tax credit properties such as this. Okay. Uh, the reason for my question is, uh, those developer fees are, um, are very nice form of revenue to put back in to additional affordable developments. And one of the reasons, you know, we or I can speak on my own behalf. I like to favor, um, affordable housing developers for SLPs and for lightech properties in general is to keep that developer fee working for affordability and not, um, you know, not going to the bottom line. So, you know, it just was looking for assurances that that developer fee, well, I don't know if it'll stay here in Colorado, but at least that it will stay in the affordable side of your business. Um, yeah, I can speak to that a bit. I mean, we have a very robust acquisition and preservation pipeline in the greater Denver area. So, um, our developer fees on deals that we have closed in 2024, 2025, um, those are being capitalized for, uh, pre - development advances on new projects in Denver. Um, so we are constantly, we have a whole team that manages kind of our cash flows so that we are able to, uh, afford our pre

0:25:29- development expenses so that we can do as many preservation deals as possible. And that's, that's really all we do here. Okay. Well, thank you. Um, Commissioners, any other questions here. Are you Suzanne? Are you looking for a motion at this meeting or this was just to get us acquainted with the proposal? Correct. Yes. And so we'll, um, put together a formal memo and likely it will be attached with a resolution that will draft up with April or our new community's law attorneys. So we've got a bit of work to do, but this was just a good chance for you to ask questions and share any concerns or anything you need to share. Yeah. So I guess at this time it might be good for us to indicate whether we generally favor this going forward, I think. Great. That would be helpful. Commissioner, what you mean? Yeah. Well, I would thank you. I was just, and thanks Zac for your presentation for being here for questions. I was just curious about logistically in a timeline of when that would come back. Because I kind of indicate, but it sounds like you will need a motion of some sort with, okay. Correct. And so the, they are trying to close in October. So the latest we can do this would be September in a Resolution. So

0:26:48over the next month or so, we would have to start finalizing documents, uh, which is why Zac was here today to present the information in July. And hopefully we can have a fast enough turnaround in August. I don't want to promise that. Cause as you know, these are very complex. Um, and do require quite a bit of legal review. Great. Thank you. Um, so, well, I think, you know, it might be good to just share with her any of us see any major red flags. Yeah. That would have started. It wasn't sure exactly what format you were looking for. Just in general comments, my belief is that we have a housing crisis and not just in the country of the United States of America, but also here in Colorado and Boulder County, um, I continue to hear from folks all around the region about the concerns of housing, including our own staff here in Boulder County that are living in South Denver and East areas, et cetera. I also have been really clear, um, and this work on housing authority that we have to open up all possibilities for all partners. Like this is not just one, one group of folks that are going to be able to help us create solutions. And so I really appreciate the diligence of looking at SLP and just

0:28:05bringing some opportunities and for, um, potential partners like this particular, um, opportunity. So I am, I'm still in support of, um, this avenue and looking for additional partners. So I appreciate the work that you're doing, Susana and your whole team to bring some opportunities for the housing authority to say yes on housing. Okay. Thank you. Great. Commissioners Stolzman, do any concerns that you want to flag? Yeah, I'm just pulling one thing up. This was an agenda for us to do this. So I'm just pulling up the one thing I need to be able to say the thing I'm planning to say. So if you want to go first while I pull it up. Yeah. Okay. Well, I, I, um, I agree. I think using the analysis by SB Clark, um, that, you know, this is, you hate to lose what is currently affordable. And it sounds, uh, from the plan. I mean, we'll want to make sure that this is all, um, properly inked that the developer related affordables is going to really upgrade these significantly and turn them into really nice units. And, you know, there's, it's, we don't have the capital to do that. We don't have the means to do it. And so I'm supportive of this going forward. Thank you. So I will probably vote against it when it comes forward

0:29:26when you look at this property. It already exists. It's under basically no threat of being demolished or leaving. It's in a really nice location and providing really nice units for folks. To be able to serve the residents who live there and help with things like their different food costs that they have and their healthcare cost that they have and policing and those types of things that we provide in the county. So, um, like that is a cost to the county, not the housing authority, of course. Um, that, you know, will be incurred and the school district will lose 25, 000 dollars in tax a year and the city will lose 7, 000 dollars in taxi air. So it's currently, um, affordable and structured in a way that the tax revenue going to the governments that have to serve the community that lives there. And I don't think that the butt four is met on the property. Like it doesn't seem like there is a threat and that it will exist before and after. And so I don't see the need to subsidize a private side developer that has access to the prop one, two, three funds, which the County no longer has to the tax credits, which of the County doesn't have and to other tools to finance the project. So I probably will vote

0:30:40against it, but we shall see. Okay. So there's just a heads up to schedule it on a day when you have, um, three questions or at least the right. I think that's incredibly manipulative. There's wasn't an agenda this way. And I'm actually quite offended by the conference. Well, I'm sorry. I, we were, I know it wasn't agenda to make a decision, but what I was hearing is they're going to, you know, this is just an FYI presentation and they're going to start putting a lot of resources into developing the legal documents. And I thought, you know, if we're, if, if, if we're actually going to, you know, raise a red flag, then we ought to, we ought to do that now. So I didn't mean to be manipulative. I just thought this is an opportunity to just give a very preliminary thumbs up or even not even a thumbs down, but a go slow. Um, okay. So next we have a development update. Yes. I'm Michelle Alexander and Walker Thrash are here today to talk through a few things actually. Morning. Sorry. Good morning commissioners.

0:31:49Michelle Alexander BCHA deputy director. First, I'd like to ask if you had any questions about the item that was on the consent agenda. Was the way it was noticed? Are you talking about the Resolution? Yes. Um, I don't have any questions about the Resolution. It wasn't clear that that was a consent agenda. So I thought that we would just be making a motion on that separately later, but I didn't have any questions. Thank you. Do we need to make a motion on that now? Can we make a motion on that now? Oh, would you like, okay. I would, I didn't know how you wanted to do this. We don't usually bring these at the BCHA board. So we are all trying to establish how this works. Okay. So you need that resolution 2026 - 006.

0:32:33Yes. Okay. Because it is on the agenda. I was going to have us do that at the end. But we can do that. We can do that now. I would move approval of Resolution 2026 - 006. Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor. Aye. All right. There you go. Thank you all. I'll wait till the end next time. No, it can go anywhere. Okay. Yeah. It's not you didn't do it wrong. It's just we're not used to seeing them on our, our monthly update agenda. But it's perfectly fine. Cause we're sitting here as the Board of the Housing Authority. So it's perfectly fine. Thank you. So we are here to discuss the deed restrictions. We followed the Board's direction from June 30th. And we're moving forward with the three percent appreciation. I did provide a detailed scenario in your packet.

0:33:20And I can go through all of those items or we can just answer any questions that you have. About deed restrictions. Yeah questions. I don't have questions. Thank you. Nope. I think we discussed it pretty thoroughly. Thanks. Any comments, additions or edits to those recommendations. No. I don't think so. Wow. Yeah. No, I feel like I had so many questions with the last meeting. And I know you all are doing the work based on those conversations. Appreciate. It. Okay. Well, that made it very easy. That was most of my. So we can move to Willoughby Corner schedule an update. As using, I said, we did have a community meeting last week that went very well. We did have applause. And that is a first for our team. And we have been talking about it all week because it was exciting to have that much support from the community. I would like to, um, read one of the comments from our attendees. My dream is to live one day in such a beautiful and blessed paradise community. I want to thank you so much for giving this neighborhood merit. And it is very interesting to see how something like Willoughby has been constructed and built. So we just got a lot of great feedback and support, which we haven't always received. So that was a really

0:34:35great thing. Phase two A continues to move forward. Through the PUD process. And we received spar comments that our team doesn't have problems making. And we will make the next deadlines at middle. So you can see here that we have our next neighborhood meeting is August 6th. Our planning commission is November 11th and December 15th is city Council. We have submitted the LOI for phase two B. So everything is moving forward as planned. Do you want to talk about the next month, Susana? Sure. Well, you talked about it yesterday. You should just do it. So this is a community event that was driven by our procurement team at Boulder County. I believe commissioner Lotomen was in attendance. This is something that we've been very passionate about for over a decade in our team and we're planning to do. So we're really excited that the county took the opportunity to make it a bigger community event.

0:35:47The feedback from our team is that it was really exciting. They were able to meet new contractors and understand their needs and the contractors were able to understand the process on how to apply with our team. So to three of our team members went, our contract specialist, uh, our rehab specialist. And I believe Melissa also went. So it was a really great event to have and have our team participate in. And I hope we have more of them in the future. Yeah. I'll just jump in. Cause I was able to participate and your group did a really fantastic job. And I spoke with some of the folks that were there trying to meet with BCHA and just really great feedback. So thank you. Thank you. Great. Thank you. That's Michelle. Morning Commissioner Sean Doherty, the finance director for the Housing Authority. And just a brief, couple of brief comments on the budget. We are, um, in the midst of, um, having discussions with, um, a fam with Armando. Cause as you know, the BCHA operating budget has historically, um, generously subsidized to the County at various levels. And we've, we found like over the last year, we've, we're, we're constantly looking for ways to reduce that our reliance. And, um, this year's no different. It's just that I think that this year's, um, same as

0:37:18last year, but the same theme of the county's structural deficit in the general fund, uh, is very present. And on our radar and on Armando's radar. And so as we're talking with him and really kind of trying to see our way to a general, um, place of a range of what that subsidy might be. Obviously with no decisions being made. It definitely informs the way that we are doing our budgeting. Um, in additionally, we're waiting for, um, I think a full presentation decision on the rent increases potential increases or not, um, that will inform our budget as well. So. It's kind of a work in progress at this point. We do plan on bringing the budget at the last meeting. I mean, at our September meeting, which is I think the last Thursday of the month or something like that. And so that's all, that's just all just a long way of saying it's a work in progress. We're waiting for information. Um, uh, to inform our models and our budget as well. But are there any questions on that. Questions. I do want to just add a note that we are in the midst of trying to schedule work session to talk through some of the different transfers that both BCHA and Boulder County do within the organization, uh, so we have a list

0:38:43of those. And we're just gathering some data, um, but I think it'll be good for us to sit down and see what, um, maybe we can, uh, illuminate for administrative purposes on our end or on Boulder County's end. So those are also conversations that are happening. Thanks, Sean, for being here for the presentation. I just have a question on is BCHA also participating in the priority - based budgeting. Yes. In fact, we're doing that internally, although it doesn't go a long way to informing OFM because as a kind of a business enterprise, it's the effect in the county is really that subsidy for the most part. So it's very limited. But it's a useful tool internally. So our department directors are engaging in that in a very specific detail using the exact same template. Okay.

0:39:33Thank you. I was just curious about the process for you all is housing authority. Thank you. So I'm just trying to remember, Sean, in a previous meeting some months ago, maybe you did say that as you're starting to look at your building your budget that you were, you're going to be reducing that subsidy request. So you've already planning for some reduction. Could you just say a little bit more about what you were anticipating? Well, um, I think initially we were going to offer really, I think initially it was 10 percent. Last year was 10 percent. And I think that's what the board was comfortable with. And so this year we started with that same assumption. And then I think as the county situation became more and more clear in our conversations with Armando, um, our challenge has been to, um, find ways to reduce that even further. Um, and I think at this point, just very generally speaking, um, something in the range of 25 plus percent. And that translates to approximately, and he went from half a million to 700, 000 dollars. But as we, as we try to nail it on that number, obviously those are big numbers and big variances. And they would have a direct effect on the way we budget.

0:41:08Okay. Well, you know, as everybody knows, we wear two hats and we'll, you know, of course, want to be looking very carefully at the BCHA budget. And, you know, and make sure that it's a solid budget. And, you know, that it reflects the finances of Boulder County Housing Authority. And, you know, my goal from the very beginning has been to have BCHA B, I mean, be what it actually is, which is a separate entity that takes on projects that, that have good pro formas that we know will cash flow, that we, you know, that we make prudent investments and take care of our capital needs. And, um, you know, and don't just rely excessively on, um, Boulder County. And, you know, and I think we've made incredible progress. I mean, for the first, I don't know, a couple of years that Commissioner Lucian and I were, were commissioners, like BCHA wouldn't even develop and submit a budget until halfway through the year practically. It was just like, Oh, you know, we're, we're just working and we're paying bills and whatever we can't cover than the Commissioners will cover. And you've brought an incredible amount of discipline in Susanna as well, the whole team, I know has, has participated in that. So I know we're making a lot of progress. And, you know, and so, well,

0:42:42I'll just be looking for that work as you bring the budget to us and as we do our work on it. I did just, you know, I was just looking at the financials that you submitted. And I guess this is through May, is it? Yes. Um, you know, you're at 850, 000 of that. Uh, 2 subsidy that you've drawn down. I mean, I guess I don't know how exactly you draw that down, whether you just sort of prorata it. That's exactly in January. And then we just amortize it throughout the year. Yeah. All right. So that doesn't really reflect like a burn rate or anything for these particular funds. And, um, and the point there in the financials as well. I mean, it's very positive year. It does have some, um, um, um, uh, little bit of added. I wouldn't count it as sustainable income.

0:43:42Things like we've made really good, uh, SLP fees this year. Well, that's, that's certainly not a main business line. And I actually don't budget for SLP fees to a great extent because I feel like they are, uh, something as a mission that we will do on a very one - off basis. Um, and so that's been a big source of income this year. We also did have, um, some stalled vacancies for a while that since have been filled. And so we've got this, this bottom line that looks very, uh, healthy, you know, as a healthy variance, um, compared with the budget, some of that, like I said, is a little bit of timing noise, um, or it's non - recurring. But. The absorption of Josephine Commons and ASN Wall does make a tremendous operating difference.

0:44:35And it's really, um, in large part, those two investments. That, um, have enabled us to confidently say over the next couple, uh, over the last couple of years that we will be reducing our reliance on the, um, the county's operating subsidy. Yeah. Well, we'll have, we'll have a couple of touch points on this in the months to come. Very good. Yeah. Anything else? No, the shares. Any other questions for Sean. Okay. Thank you. Hi Kelly Stapleton, Boulder County Housing Authority. I'm just going to touch on the KPIs for the month of May. Um, on our, our KPI here, we have added Willoughby Corner Senior. And over the next month, we'll probably add multifamily since it's come online. And it's operational. And so we have metrics to add and compare. Um, overall, as you can see, the debt service coverage ratio is doing great. Everybody's in a very healthy position. Even our tungsten village that we kind of keep an eye on based on our occupancy, um, so we're, we're happy to report that tungsten village, um, we seem to have kind of made some adjustments. And for the last two years, it's operating within its DCR. So that's great. And we do have that vacancy up there that I think has been filled. So hopefully, um, on the bottom there, you can

0:46:08see it's like an 89 percent, I think. And so hopefully that will, um, go back up over the next couple of months. Um, the occupancy is averaging about 93 percent across our entire portfolio. Some are like just in commons is higher or our senior properties typically tend to, um, have a higher occupancy rate. And the one on the far left are 2012 Bond Group has a lower occupancy rate. And so I think that's just part of overall, um, moving in and out in something that the team has been looking on and will continue to focus on. That's kind of an abnormal for the, for our BCHA side portfolio to have a lower occupancy rate. Any specific questions or comments? Questions, comments? No. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thanks Kelly. And matters from the board.

0:47:09Any matters. I think you. The first couple slides I was waiting. I didn't jump in right away on the mic. Um, I just had one question. Susana about the, um, cause the La Speranza, and I heard in the presentation that you were doing a naming of the community building. And I thought from a previous conversation that it was community room. And so I just wanted to, I'm receiving that as, um, maybe a recommendation of BCHA director that may need to go to the commissioner separate. So I just want to clarify that a little bit because in this packet, it says it's the full building, which I like, and I know Nino Gallo and I've done a lot of work with him previously as well in both housing and other work. But I just wanted to ask that question in case we need to do a different action or a separate action. Thank you, Commissioner. I had the same question. I did review our policy and I did meet with Council because it is just a one of our several of the buildings on the property.

0:48:14One of them is just being named essentially and not renamed the property isn't being renamed. So for example, if we were going to rename Casa the La Speranza, then yes, we would have to bring that forward to Boulder County and that would have to, you know, meet with all of the emergency services teams and get approvals, um, per the policy. But because we're not, um, it's sort of more similar to a room. There's two rooms in the community buildings. Okay. Thank you for that clarification. Appreciate it. And I didn't have additional questions outside of what I had already asked. Um, yeah, I don't. Commissioner Stolzman, any matters, nothing matters. Okay. No, thank you. Thanks. Thank you so much for the meeting for the presentation for all the great work that you all are doing. And so, uh, we are sitting, as I said, as the Board of the Border County Housing Authority. And so our meeting is adjourned, but just by way of general public notice, we will be meeting as the Board of County Commissioners at 1 o'clock this Afternoon. So thank you all.

0:49:21And we are adjourned. All right. Commissioners, are you ready? Yes, thank you, Jer. And we are recording. Okay, good afternoon. This is a meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of Boulder County. Today is July 23rd, 2026. We do have all three commissioners present this afternoon. We have two items on our agenda. And the first is a public hearing on the Boulder County Cultural Council and Scientific and Cultural Facilities District Funding allocations. I know many of you are here for our second ballot item or agenda item on the ballot measure, but maybe this is an opportunity to learn about something completely different that we do here in Boulder County. So hopefully you'll find this illuminating. Robin, are you going to make the presentation or just kick it off? Yep. Okay. Good afternoon, Madam Chair Commissioners. I'm Robin Valdez with the Commissioner's office in this afternoon. I am here my capacity of Border's on to the Coulter Council, which is a role that I've been serving on for the last seven months. Over the past, several months, this board has worked very hard, Reviewing Proposals from Tier 3 Arts Science and Cultural Organizations seeking funding from the funds Boulder County receives from the science and cultural facilities district. Also, I want to add that the two additional members that you

0:51:18selected for the Coulter Council earlier this year made as significant difference on the workload that each member had to carry this year. And so thank you for that. And now gives me a great pleasure to introduce our chair Glenn Barack and our vice chair, Ed Casaldo, our project officer from SCFD, Kursen Lang. And one of our new members, Brenda. So thank you. And so Ed will be present into you the process and funding scenario for this year's awards that will eventually be presented to the SCFD board for approval. And now I'm going to turn it over to Ed. Thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chair and Commissioners. I'm Ed Costaldo. As Brobin introduced me, I am the vice chair of the Boulder County Cultural Council. Before I begin, just one disclosure for the record.

0:52:26I do serve on the Board of Directors for the Upstart Crow Theater Company, which is one of the grant applicants for this cycle. However, consistent with policy, I recuse myself for many discussion of that application and any allocation conversations about that particular application. Similarly, other Council members did the same if they had a conflict of interests. On behalf of the Council, though, I am here to present our recommended 2026 SCFD3 funding allocation for your approval. A quick road wrap. We're going to talk about who we are. How we reviewed this year's applications. What the numbers look like, and how we recommend distributing just over 1. 3 million dollars to the 100 plus cultural organizations serving Boulder County. It's going to take about 10 minutes. I'm happy to answer questions. Great. All right. So the Boulder County Culture Council is 11 volunteer members that are appointed to review the SCFD tier three applications for Boulder County, supported by Robin Valdez, as well as our County liaison, or as our County Latin, I should say. Kirsten Ling from SCFD, as well as Teresa Valerio Parrot, who's our county representative on the SCFD Board. One change is worth noting that Robin brought up. Council voted to, sorry, the commissioners voted to expand from nine to 11 seats this year on the Council. The reason is simply workload. We

0:53:59reviewed over 106 applications this cycle, which is up from 94 from last year. And every application gets scored by every member. However, we do also have someone present for each of those applications. So it helps to have a few more hands helping with the workload. We'll talk a little bit more about the demand growth in a moment, though. Next slide. Hank. Yeah, the grant review process overall ran from April through May. We had four study sessions. Three were for general operating support applications that were grouped by budget size roughly. And one was for project applications. Where the Council had questions. We sent those questions in writing. Um, to the organizations. And they had a week to respond. No organization was scored on any ambiguity that we did not give them an opportunity to clarify. All scores were submitted by May 12th and independently tabulated. On May 19th, we held our allocation meeting, reviewed multiple funding scenarios and voted on the, um, the plan nature is going to be seeing here today. And if you approve it, uh, this will be presented to the SCFD board of directors on September 24th. Thank you. Here's the shape of the challenge. Um, as you can see, available funds are down. For the third consecutive year. 1. 43 million dollars in 2024 down to about 1. 3 million dollars

0:55:31this year. Meanwhile demand has gone the opposite direction with 105 applications up 13 percent in one year. Uh, which has been a fairly consistent trend. It seems like we're getting more and more applications. With fewer funds available. Project applications also jumped up from 28 to 36, which is a 29 percent increase. For funding came to about 2. 19 million dollars against the 1. 3 million dollars were available. So for every dollar that was requested, we had roughly 59 cents available to fund with. That gap is what drove the allocation decisions. It will walk you through. Next slide. Thank you. Every application was scored against the unified rubric used by all seven counties. Um, in SCFD that is. So a Boulder County applications evaluate on the same framework that would be done in Denver or Adams.

0:56:31One adjustment that was done this cycle overall, um, the 2025 Council Chairs agreed by consensus to shift the waiting of the rubric toward County Impact. That matters simply because County Impact becomes the deciding factor in our project funding particularly, which is on our next slide. Our guidelines do cap general operating operating support awards at 40, 000 dollars or 25 percent of prior year revenue, whichever is lower. And for Boulder Base organizations. Uh, the cap for projects is 5, 000 dollars for outside organizations being programming into the county. Council modeled several scenarios with Kirsten Lang's help. We were able to have a nice visualization of what certain models would result as funding wise. Scenario one was sort of a straight score - based calculation. Sonario two, however, funded projects using mean scores sorted by County Impact. And that applied a floor. So projects that scored under 10 out of 15 on the County Impact were not funded. Remaining dollars within flowing to general operating support for scoring. The Council chose to adopt scenario two. The reasoning was fairly straightforward. Project applications grew by 29 percent while funds shrink rather than spread thinner.

0:58:16We prioritized the projects with the strongest demonstrated benefit to Boulder County. It's the residents to the arts and to the cultural impact of Boulder County. The protected general operating support funds of GOS funds for our home organizations, um, we protected them from being diluted. In that regard. We were trying to make sure we had good impact from both the projects, but also make sure that we kept a strong base for our individual home organizations. We're lack of a better word. Next slide. These, if you can see are all 70 general operating support applicants ranked by mean score from a high of 44 to, uh, roughly 28. That spread tells you that the rubric does in fact differentiate between different applications. Under the formula, uh, the dollars follow the scores and a subdue to the caps that. Slide. For a project applicants sorted by County Impact score, uh, which was what scenario to, you know, called for. The Council did fund projects that were at or above 10 out of 15. On the County Impact score.

0:59:33And these organizations are based outside of Boulder County who's funded work happens here inside Boulder County. Performances education programs, cultural programming, whatever the case might be for their individual, uh, organization. The projects that fell below the four were not funded for this cycle. That doesn't mean that they're not able to apply in the future. It just means that they didn't get any funds out of this particular cycle. And next slide. The recommended GOS allocations, uh, total one million dollars, one million hundred ninety three thousand one hundred. These individual wards are reflect each organization's score and the applicable cap. Again, 40, 000 dollars or twenty five percent of gross revenue of prior year revenue that is whichever one is lower. And this table is in the packet. Um, walk through it line by line, but I'm glad to speak to any specific organization if there are questions. Next slide. Likewise, you have the project allocations, which total 107, 366 dollars across the funded organizations for projects. Organizations showing a zero are those that fell below the county impact score of 10. They do remain eligible for next cycle. Though. Next slide. In summary, um, 100 percent of the one million 301, 726 dollars that were available have been allocated. 1.

1:01:109 million to general operating support and 107, 000 dollars roughly two projects You'll notice that project funding rose to 8. 3 percent of the total. And again, the Council's decision to fund based on the highest impact scores rather than just pro rate everything downward. It was a deliberate choice, not just some drift. I want to thank you as well as the Council members. We do have a few of here today. For putting in the hours, um, with regard to this, it is difficult. I will repeat that a few times. It is difficult to score one particular organization and be thorough. When you have over 100 and expecting to have more as we go along, having again, those extra people to review provide feedback. And not always, um, consistent feedback. There's a variety and a diversity of opinion that we are very proud of with Boulder County Cultural Council. Nobody is just rubber stamping anything.

1:02:20It's all very well, um, differentiated by, by good logic and overall, we work very well together. Uh, commissioners. On behalf of the Boulder County Cultural Council, I respectfully request. We request. Your approval of these recommendations so that the Council can present them to the SCFD Board of Directors on September 24th. That said, I'm happy to take any questions. Great. Thank you very much. Um, Commissioners, any questions before we take testimony. I don't have any questions. Thank you. Thanks for the presentation and team that's here. And I know the council members out there, but I can't see everybody. Just want to acknowledge the work and the explanation and process that you talked about understanding the review of what you've determined and spoke to about as the gap. Um, and we see that. And Boulder County funds voter approved funds certainly as well just as the amount of applications and the need, um, versus what we're able to distribute. So that resonated when you're speaking about that.

1:03:24I didn't, I don't have technical question. It was more of just an understanding of the list that you talked about as, um, you talked about Boulder County Oregs and then other orcs from around the state that come into Boulder County. Yes. So all of the awardees, Boulder County residents can expect to see them in some area of Boulder County. Is that correct? Generally speaking, that's true. Based on our guidelines Ag Boulder County organization is eligible for general operating support if they have a connection to Boulder County, whether that's an office here or 51 percent, I believe it is of their, uh, overall activities are in Boulder County. Um, whereas the general operating support is for those organizations, project funds are for projects that happen in the side Boulder County. So yes, there will be an impact in the county. Thank you. Appreciate it. Commissioner Stolzman.

1:04:19Just thank you very much for the review and the way that the group goes about professional process and really taking the time and care. It's very important to all the applicants that that consideration is taken and you've done just such a nice job with that. I look forward to the public testimony today and barring some sort of unexpected testimony that I can't imagine is going to come in, um, look forward to accepting your recommendations. Well, thank you very much. Great. And I'll make some comments later after we've heard the pelvic testimony and already to take our vote. So we did schedule this for public hearing. And I will ask, uh, if we have anyone who has signed up to speak to this matter, no one signed up in advance. And is there anyone present that did want to speak to the Boulder County Cultural Council and their recommendations on funding on SCFD. If there is, you're welcome to take three minutes to share your views.

1:05:16And I'm not seeing anybody that looks like they'd like to come forward. So, uh, we have no public testimony. And so we do need to take a vote to accept the recommendations, maybe at this time since I didn't make comments before. I'll just make, I'll just say, so one of the things I'm hoping will happen. So our, we just heard from our chief financial officer that finally sales tax revenue trends are up in Boulder County a little bit. Not huge. Um, and so hopefully that, that will be a trend throughout the SCFD. And, you know, because, you know, this is, this has been a theme now for the last three or four years really that, um, we're so lucky in Boulder County to have so many organizations that have qualified for tier three funding. And that just, you know, we, we just live in a culturally rich community and a community that wants that and patronizes and thrives and enriched by all of it. And, you know, the, the pot's not really growing commensurate. So, you know, we know that you have a really hard job to do. And when we open up applications to serve on the cultural council, uh, we get a lot of people that just think it would be really cool to give money away, which it is. But we always

1:06:46try to emphasize in the interviews and in the conversations that this is work. And, you know, you've got detailed applications and spreadsheets that you really need to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and address. And so, uh, I know, um, I really appreciate, you know, the presentation and the care that you took in reviewing your process with us. So, um, I think the last thing I want to say before we vote, and I'll, I'll, I'll welcome my fellow commissioners if they'd like to make additional comments is that I, uh, I had, I met Monday morning with, um, somebody who's going to be involved in the reauthorization campaign, which will be on the ballot in 2028. And they're doing really early outreach, uh, to just, um, touch base with the folks in the community that either already know a lot and can help spread the word and folks in the community that don't know. Um, you know, that really don't know how, how we fund scientific and cultural facilities within the district. And so those conversations are ongoing. There are various opportunities for engagement. And maybe we can put some of those on our website.

1:08:00I know I got an email from SCFD with those opportunities and be good to get more people involved. So just express my appreciation for what you do. We're really phenomenally fortunate in the district. To have public funding for so many wonderful organizations. Um, I think we, we don't have a resolution number, but I guess we can have a motion to accept the recommended allocations. If that does the job. I just want to make one comment, which is not to rain on the parade, but just so that people don't become overly optimistic. The total sales and use tax if you combine them both year to date is actually down 1. 34 percent So while the sales tax is slightly up, the overall picture is not good. I just don't want people to be overly optimistic. Our financial position with sales and use taxes down year on year. Um, but I really appreciate your optimism. And I'm hopeful that it will grow. Um, but I would move approval of accepting the recommendation. Second. Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye.

1:09:04Hi. All right. Thank you very much. And you're welcome to stay for the rest of the afternoon if you'd like to. So no, do again, appreciate your work. So the next, uh, item on our agenda is a public hearing to consider whether to refer to the ballot, a property tax increase to fund early childhood care and education. And we'll just take a minute to let our cultural council leave the room. And let our presenters come forward. And Natalie, you will introduce this matter. Thank you. Yes. Injure, if you have a moment, we do have a slide presentation pulled up. Okay. And then I think we, is Jared going to make a little announcement about that. Oh, that's only if it's being shared. Only if it's a screenshot remotely. Okay. Thank you for checking. Sure. Good morning or good afternoon, commissioners. Natalie Springett Commissioners deputy. I'm here to introduce the next item on your public hearing agenda this afternoon. And so today we're bringing forward consideration of a ballot measure, uh, for the November 2026 election.

1:10:54Commissioners, today we are asking, if you would like to refer a ballot measure, um, and then if you choose to do so, that would leave the, um, implementation of that ballot measure and the decision up to the voters of Boulder County in the November, 2026 election. Just some high level information on what was provided in the packet in the resolution language for your consideration today. We are proposing a property tax increase of 2. 579 mils, which would begin January 1st, 2027. This calculates to approximately 110 dollars. We do have our assessor's office staff with us today as well. Should have any questions regarding that approximation at the end of the presentation. Um, this is estimated that it would bring in 30 million dollars annually. And the resolution we're bringing forward to you today proposes that that 30 million dollars be used to address the following areas of child care affordability, childcare accessibility and workforce stability, uh, within Boulder County. And I am very happy to have with us today Casey Hedrick, the CEO of the early childcare Council of Boulder County. And Jake Marsing from Longmont City Council. And they will be taking over the remainder of the presentation to explain both the need that exists in Boulder County. Um, why we believe the 30 million dollar annual increase to the property

1:12:51tax mill would be beneficial for you all to refer today. Okay. Thank you, Natalie. Casey, even though I said your name and Natalie said your name, you to say your name. And then we're happy to hear your presentation. Thank you, Natalie. Uh, thank you County Commissioners and Madam Chair. My name is Casey Hedrick. I get to service the CEO for the early childhood Council here in Boulder County. And I'm a proud coalition member of the Brighter Start Boulder County Coalition. And Madam Chair Commissioners, I'm Jake Marsing. Uh, I want to be clear, I'm not here representing the city of Longmont or St. Frayne Valley School District, although I serve both. I'm here as a member of Breiter Starts Coalition, uh, our executive committee. And most importantly, as Theo Luke and Maggie's dad. Before you today, because we believe that our childcare system and Boulder County is at a crisis point, we believe that families and children should be able to access high quality care, not dependent upon how much money they have in their bank account. We believe that work our childcare providers and caregivers should get living wages and be able to live in our community. And unfortunately that is not the reality that we have here today. So that is why we are bringing forward a plan for you to consider. And we

1:14:01are ask, our hope is that you put that on the ballot so that Boulder County voters and our Boulder County community can decide to invest in this and to help this crisis become better. I want to take a moment and just thank our coalition members, our thought partners, our partners that have helped craft this plan over the last two years. And also want to acknowledge those that have been advocating and working on this issue for the last decade plus in this community. So let's start if we can, commissioners with the foundational case that we'll make today and then over the next several months. And that is that early childhood care and education is essentially community infrastructure. Families cannot work without reliable childcare. Employers cannot keep workers when those workers cannot find care. And children do not suddenly begin learning when they enter kindergarten. Brighter start Boulder County is about fixing that gap. It is about helping children thrive, helping families stay in the workforce, helping employers keep workers and building a stronger Boulder County for everybody, whether or not they have young kids. Brighter start is really about fixing the gap that exists in our system. Because by the time a child enters kindergarten roughly 90 percent of their brain has already developed We know this. We invest publicly in K - 12 education because

1:15:22we understand that education is essential, but we have treated these early critical years without the same level of care or the same kinds of public investment. And the reality is that in the modern economy, that system does not work without public investment. We know this because we have seen the devastating consequences of public investment being pulled back through the CCAP freeze. Our plan is built to restore that investment and do more because this system is fundamentally broken without it. So just a ground you and where we are here in Boulder County, the adages from the parents side, if you can find it, can you afford it? And this slide and the two tables displayed in it illustrate that point with the table on the left talking about where we are in terms of slots. So from an infant perspective, we only have licensed childcare slots for about 25 percent of all infants and Boulder County who need it. And about. If you can afford it.

1:16:25And so the table on the right illustrates the cost that families are faced with to pay for childcare. And so if you are looking for full - time care for an infant and toddler in our community, you are paying over 20, 000 dollars per year per child, that rivals college tuition rates. And if you have more than one child, such as Council Member Marsing and myself, you're paying upwards of 40, 000 dollars per year. All of this is made more complicated by the fact that the only child care subsidy program in our community or in the county. CCAP has been frozen for over two years. And there's over 1, 000 children on that wait list today. On that freeze list, I should say. Complicating even further and underpinning our affordability and accessibility challenges is the state of the workforce. Childcare providers and educators make about 26 percent less than their K - 12 Counterparts on average. This table demonstrates some of the average wages that childcare providers are making in this community. And based on that and the cost of living in Boulder County, it's easy to see why our turnover rate is approximately 30 percent every single year. Also important to note that turnover rates impact on the development of young children. When children are in care settings, they're forming foundational bonds. And when

1:17:47those bonds are broken because of pervasive and high turnover, it is not in the best interest of the development of children. So this really does ripple through our entire community. Colorado statewide loses about 2. 2 billion dollars a year in economic earnings. Employers lose about 780 million dollars due to child care shortages directly. Boulder County, our share is roughly about 121 million dollars a year in lost earnings and productivity and 21 million dollars a year overall an employer losses just here in Boulder County. And behind those numbers, the emphasis I want to make is that these are real families that are being forced to make impossible choices. They have to decide between whether one of their, one of them gives up a career, whether they can afford to have the family. They've dreamed of or whether they have to leave Boulder County altogether, which many of our families are choosing to do, unfortunately. Fundamentally commissioners, this is a question about the character of our whole community, whether the teachers, nurses, first responders, service workers and young families, we depend on to make Boulder County work can actually put down roots here or whether Boulder Boulder County is a place of halves and have knots where the gap between opportunity and affordability grows so wide that working families are simply priced out. But Madam Chair and

1:19:07Commissioners, we're here today because the data and example after example shows us that the crisis we're facing in early care and education is solvable. This is a solvable problem. And the plan that we're presenting to you today is grounded in years of stakeholder work, clear polling showing strong community support and proven examples from across the country. Just last year, Larimer County passed a similar measure. The Denver Preschool Program has served tens of thousands of children since voters approved it. And in Summit County, you saw a 2024 scholarship program now serves 162 families and 186 children across 32 providers generating four dollars and a quarter in economic value for every single dollar invested. We are proud to present a Boulder County solution that meets this moment while building on what has worked elsewhere because these examples show us that local investment delivers real returns for families for providers for employers for the entire economy. So why we're here today and what we want to ask you to consider today or maybe why we feel this moment is important is because if we do nothing, we feel like this crisis is going to continue to evolve in at alarming rate. We will have more children added to that CCAP freeze list. List, we will have more families unable to live in this community. We will have turnover

1:20:27in industries across our community that will impact our overall economic position. To that end, it's important to know too that families are paying about 24 to 35 percent of their annual household income on childcare. That is among some of the highest rates across the state of Colorado over the last two years, 26 childcare providers have closed or programs have closed. Equating to a net loss of about 474 slots in our community. And we know that from a federal and state perspective, uh, those bodies of government are not coming to the table to solve this either. So that is why we're excited to bring forward to you the brighter sharp Boulder County plan. This plan calls for making childcare more affordable for families. This plan calls for expanding the number of infant and toddler slots in our community to better meet the demand. And this plan calls for investing in our workforce. So we stabilize it and keep these incredible teachers and educators here longer. The way that we'd like to achieve that is through a 2. 579 mil generating approximately 30 million dollars like Natalie mentioned. We'll talk in a second about the impact of both residential and commercial property on that. Before we get there though, I think it's important for you to know how we got to 30 million dollars If we, as

1:21:42we considered this, uh, we referenced a study that was done about three years ago where it found that it would take about 72 million dollars to truly have a universal like system here in Boulder County. So fast forward to today increasing business costs inflation will assume that that cost is 80 million dollars. We are not asking you for 80 million dollars today. We know that that would place an undue financial burden on Boulder County voters. So our, our plan was about priorities. Our plan was about how do we boil down the biggest issues from the system and tackle it. We use data to inform us and we listen to the community about the biggest pain points of this childcare system. To be clear, we understand that 30 million dollars is also a large ask. But that's why we went to voters and polled on this issue. This last spring, we conducted a poll. We asked voters if they felt like this is something that they would want to tackle that they asked them if they felt that this was an important issue. And if they were willing to tax themselves at that rate of 30 million dollars and the answer was yes, the majority of voters said, yes, they would be willing to do that.

1:22:50It's also important to note that we ask them about 20 million dollars. We wanted to know if voters had a big difference of opinion between those two numbers. And we did not find one. So we feel confident that while this is a large ask, it meets the moment in the biggest crisis areas that we have within our childcare system. And our voters have an appetite to engage and solve it. Also important to note that we believe this plan, if implemented correctly, could help to support about 6, 300 children and families and help the support over 700 childcare providers and educators. Looking at this from a tax implementation standpoint, we were able to work with county assessor's office to get a sense of what tax implications this could be like for both residential and commercial property.

1:23:40You see this on the slide before you. Different samples based on assess value for both and how that could impact individuals and businesses. There's also at the bottom of the screen a formula that came from County Assessor's office. If folks wanted to individually, uh, look up what, what that is for them. I'm not going to try to explain that formula. Um, but if you go to brighterstart Bouldercounty. org backslash FAQ, you can, uh, use our calculator that was developed with this formula to see what your individual, uh, impacts could be on residential property. I want to go back to the tenets of the plan to make sure that we're being clear about what this would do. As mentioned, this would tackle family affordability. And so we would do that in two ways. We would backfill or we would, uh, backfill CCAP so that those children get off that freeze list and back into programs. We would also create an additional subsidy program that would provide a tuition assistance for families who do not qualify for CCAP, but have a hard time, uh, paying for market childcare rates. Um, taking all together, this is where the majority of the funds from the plans would go. The next pillar of this is about expanding infant and toddler slots. This is about making sure that providers have access

1:24:58to capital so that they can open more slots for infant dollars. That might be building acquisition building renovation, professional development, credentialing all the things that are required to serve infant toddlers. We also want to be mindful that as we expand quantity in our community, we also expand quality. And so the quality support mechanisms baked into this as well. So that as providers expand, they have all the tools, um, at the ready so that they can expand and create environments for children that help put them on a long - term pathway of success in academics and in life. And then lastly from a workforce stabilization fund, we have this carve out, uh, in the plan to create a fund that childcare providers can access to help invest in their employees. So that would be things like retention bonuses hiring bonuses hiring substitutes. Additional professional development that oftentimes programs can't afford because it would mean that they have to, uh, charge their families more. And then lastly, uh, this, we have built into this a shared infrastructure mechanism so that we could help, uh, smaller providers in home providers come together and do things like bulk purchasing.

1:26:08So for those really expensive items, benefits and insurance, we could come together and make dollars go farther. I want to emphasize though, this plan all plays together, that we can't really take one without the other. If we're serious about systematic change, if we just makes lots more affordable for families, it doesn't mean that there's enough slot to me slots to meet the demand. If we just focus on increasing slots, it doesn't mean that parents can afford it. And if we don't invest in our workforce, we won't have teachers. So once again, just bringing that point home about the prioritization of this plan and why we feel really strongly that this plan meets both the priorities of the system today and the biggest pain points that our community has told us. And lastly, I want to be really clear about what we envision in terms of targets that we're not just putting a plan in front of you and crossing our fingers that it goes well.

1:27:07We're also putting, um, some really clear goals in front of you as well. So within the first three years of implementation, what we would hope to see is families participating in this program. Their annual household income goes down to seven to fifteen percent paying for childcare as opposed to where it's at today between 24 and 35 percent We also want to see an increase of 30 per an increase of infant toddler slots by 30 percent. If we were able to do that, that would be over 600 slots for infants and toddlers in our community. And lastly, we want to see that work our workforce stabilize instead of that turnover rate. So Commissioners, thank you for your time for listening for your willingness to consider the proposal. You know, I have often described in my work the crisis we're facing in ECE really is a moral and economic crisis. And I know that that may sound hyperbolic, but the data makes really clear that this is a true moment for choosing for our county and our community needs a plan that meets this moment. Brighter start does. Uh, it is focused on the three places where the system is breaking most badly. Affordability for families, infant and toddler capacity and stability for educators and providers who make care possible. It has been built over years by

1:28:19the people who live this crisis every day. Parents, providers, educators, employers, community leaders. So many of whom are in this room with us today. They have done the work, tested the options, made the compromises and built a plan that can make a real and measurable difference in the lives of working people across our county. And our community stands ready to invest in this effort, organize around this plan and carry this case to the voters. This community believes doing nothing is not an option. It means that more families would be forced out of the workforce that more providers would close their doors that more educators would leave the field and more working families would be deciding whether or not Boulder County is a place where they can build a life. Ultimately, this is a question about what kind of community we are going to be. And the voters of Boulder County are ready to answer that question. And we are asking you to give them the chance. Thank you. We look forward to the public hearing and taking your questions. Thank you very much. Um. Before we open it up for public testimony, and I know we have a lot of people who want to speak to us, I thought I would just see if we have any questions before we hear from the public. I

1:29:35don't have any questions looking forward to the testimony. I do have a couple of questions. Thank you. Thank you both for being here and all of the advocates and folks who've been working. As you said a decade and more, but I know there has been some folks in the room and not in the room who've been really working as an executive committee, et cetera, on the topic. Some of you in the room brought previously the idea that the state of Colorado has provided for Coloradoans through a special district as an alternative solution of how to address this issue. So I just know the lot of different work happening in one acknowledge, all that. I do have a couple of questions. This is on the presentation. Um, and I'll try and be brief because I know folks want to speak and we're here to listen as well. And it will be helpful for me. And it might give some people an opportunity to respond to some of the questions that I have as well. The, let's see here. Let me start first length of time. I didn't hear it stated, but I, what I'm understanding is this is a request for the 2. 5794 in perpetuity.

1:30:34Is that correct? That's correct. And I'm wondering if you all have thought about, so what's on my mind is, um, we get to, as commissioners participate in a lot of different statewide national conversations, one of the presentations against brought to our community frequently is the state demographers study, which would indicate that we have based on a whole lot of factors, um, an area in this country that doesn't, um, necessarily support families and kiddos in addition to what you all are talking about. So I was just curious about, um, if you all had any conversation, I don't believe it was in polling, but any conversations that you might be able to share about, um, why not a 10 year tax, when on a 15 year tax or something that's not in perpetuity. We have a conversation about that. Sorry, excuse me. Uh, thank you for the question, Commissioner Luchamine. We have that conversation about that. And we're proposing this in perpetuity because we know that, you know, it takes a long time. And once we start investments in this kind of work, we don't want to see those fade away because it means that the rug is pulled out from those families who depend on it.

1:31:38We also understand that dynamics are always changing from the federal level in the state level and our hope. And we know, cause we're connected to some folks at the state that maybe there would be something in the future. So I think we would be open to a sunset. But our hope would be that it's nothing less than like 10 years because it takes a long time to get, uh, really robust outcomes for something like this. And once again, we want to make sure that families have a path that they can depend upon and not something that's here today and gone tomorrow. Thank you. I was curious around, so many different conversations and you alluded to a little in the conversation about which, which piece could support and help the need. And I also heard you present like this all has to happen together. Um, for it to be successful. And CCAP is like one specific piece that the county is very involved in. And it should say our county staff is very involved in that distribution. But could you speak to like if we, and I'll say I'm thinking about previous time at the dais and other asks one of those being the Boulder library district, which I was very clear that that seemed like a very high mill of a understanding that a lot

1:32:48of the comments that we hear here at the dioce and an emails is about the cost of living here in this region and the ability for people even to consider. So we're talking about homeowners when you present a property tax, but just want to understand if, um, like what would a 2. 0 millivi look like. In, um, and what discussion y'all had. Thank you again for that, for that question, conventional loan. I mean, I think that as mentioned in our proposal, if we start to carve some things away from this, we're not making the type of systemic impact that we need to. We are at the brink. We are at a crisis point taking this down a notch means that it's a smaller band - aid for a very large hole that will get larger.

1:33:35We feel very passionately and strongly that this needs to be taken all together because doing one of the, over the other is going to leave people out. Every time we cut early care and education, it is our most marginalized and vulnerable populations that are hurt the most. And so our ask is that we don't do that. Um, and our understanding is certainly the concern that, that residents and businesses might have, but we also have strong data to support that when you invest in an early care and education, you get gains. You get economic gains. You get community gains. And there are savings on that side of it while you might not see it on your tax bill. You, you might see it in retention of employees or retention of critical infrastructure and personnel that we need. So, uh, and maybe, yeah, go ahead. Yeah. Just really quickly. I mean, I appreciate the question, Commissioner Luchamine, Madam Chair. Thank you. Because I think it's important, as I sit here and think about my own situation, we're talking about a system currently. We're in Boulder County. It costs more to send a one - year - old to daycare than just to send them down the street to see you Boulder. That is an affordability crisis. And this is actually, in my view, a measure that addresses

1:34:46affordability. This measure if passed will reduce the cost of living for tens of thousands of families in our community who are strapped desperately by the crisis that we're facing that is disproportionately impacting Boulder County relative to the rest of the state. Um, so, so yeah, I think the question is a fair one. But to Casey's point earlier as well, the system, as I've learned about it in the last year and a half to two years really does connect one piece to the other and to say that we're going to cut here in order to take the top line down. I think meet the moment or likely makes this less likely to be successful long - term, which is the other fear. Um, the goal here is that this is a plan that works and that is sustainable. And the more you chip away, the more the less likely that is long - term to actually see the cost reductions and the cost of living reductions that we're hoping to see as a result of this.

1:35:37Thank you. I had one other question in regards to what's described in the plan here as tuition assistance. And I got the piece of just accessibility. Could you just speak to how you came up with 150, 000 annual income figure and if you have data about like just from this particular chair, um, I'm looking at pretty consistently like who are the folks in Boulder County that are most in need. We have a poverty issue here in Boulder County as well. Could you just speak to how you came up to that number? Thank you again for the question. Commissioner Luchamin. That number came from a couple of different things. As you know, this plan does call to help support basically our targets, um, household then comes, that make between zero and 150, 000 dollars approximately. And as you start to calculate the potential cost as it relates to getting, uh, CCAP addressed. And then back into the total population of families that don't qualify for CCAP, but don't make some of the standard ranges of living, whether you look at MIT or some of the other data points out there. It came to around 150 approximately.

1:36:49So we looked at both census data and then we looked at how much we could afford given the plan and backed into it from there. Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. Um. And the other question I have right now, I'll hold the rest of them until later. In your presentation, you talked about a couple other, I don't remember how they were, what the description was, but other examples, Lamer, the Denver preschool program. And then there was one other one that I didn't get written down as fast. Are those all property taxes as well? Because I thought I read in there that at least one of those was sales used text. So I just want to understand what we're comparing. Yeah. Uh, thank you again for the question, Commissioner. Uh, sales tax is Denver preschool program sales taxes Larimer County. Remind me on Summit County. I think that that was property. I'll double check. But we will double check and get back to you. Okay. Thank you.

1:37:45Those are my questions for right now. I appreciate it. Um, I think so I have a couple of questions, but I think, um, I think I'm just going to ask one of them at this time. I think it'd be helpful for, to know, you know, what kind of outreach you have done at this point. And that has informed this plan and specifically, you know, one of the things that we do here so much is the effect of unaffordable childcare on the workforce and the stability of the workforce and labor participation rights. And so I'm just wondering about, you know, broad outreach and then specifically to the business community who hopefully will see the benefit of it. Thank you Commissioner Levy for that question. Uh, in terms of outreach starting in 2024 and even before that Commissioner Luciamine mentioned that there has been a lot of groups in one in particular that was working on this as well. But outreach started with gathering community members together to look at data. And that was childcare providers and parents and elected leaders and community partners and our community foundations and bringing them together to look at data. And then from there, um, starting to get some themes of major pain points as the early childhood Council, we talked to a lot of childcare providers, all of the time.

1:39:05So we've sent out formal surveys. We've sent out surveys to families and year over year, we're getting the same reoccurring themes, uh, come from that. Uh, specifically related to the business community, um, they've been thought partners along the way. So as we've developed different versions of this plan, um, are some of our chamber leaders have come alongside us and offered feedback. And we've also been, um, able to, uh, present to their policy committees, both the Boulder County, excuse me, Boulder Chamber and Longmont Chamber. We've been able to present to their policy committees as well and get their feedback. Great. Oh, go ahead. No, sorry, Commissioner. I would just add as well that there's been outreach on Bolts of Business side and the Labor side, like you mentioned, uh, just at the start of the meeting, we learned that the Boulderia Labor Council plans has voted to endorse this plan joining a number of coalitions and groups who have done so as well. You can view the full list at brighter star Boulder County. org, but that includes the Asmin Center, the Longmont Community Foundation BVEA.

1:40:00The list is long for the partners who've engaged in this process and who've been a part of the data collection piece going as far as to send out, I mean, Casey and I were in a meeting what a couple of weeks ago with the Longmont Chambers policy committee discussing their concerns and answering their questions with them. Uh, and they shared a lot of what you just shared, which is this is a real workforce impact for them in addressing it could lead to real benefit for a business community. There's a group in Denver that's, um, it's the acronym is epic. Yeah. And I don't remember what that stands for, but it is an organization of business people who are supporting early childhood. You had a slide on the, what the 2. 579 mils would be for residential and commercial. And I am, I mean, you know, I am kind of wondering about that commercial impact given the high vacancy rate. We have here in Boulder. I don't know, um, I don't know the figures for some of the other communities in Boulder County, but you know, have you thought about, about that impact. Yeah. Thank you again, Commissioner Levy, for the questions. We've absolutely thought about that impact, but I think this is where we go back to that businesses gain from investing in early care

1:41:13and education. You mentioned Epic. Epic has multiple studies in which they've tested that and the data proves it. That when businesses invest in early care and education, they retain talent. They have a more productive workforce. Um, and they have less employee turnover and more satisfied employees. And so while again, yes, this is a cost to them. It is also a savings to them as well. And we've made that point, uh, to our, to our business partners. And I think we have some here today that will speak to that they understand that. And they see that. Okay. Thank you. I think that's all I have at this time. So, uh, we will now, uh, open the floor for public testimony. And we are taking people up in the order in which they signed up, uh, normally this tells us who's online and who isn't. Maybe it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter for my purposes. Pardon? It'll be in purple if it's online. Yeah. So we will and it's three minutes each and we do ask everyone to please start by studying your name for the record.

1:42:19And also ask in advance that they're not be clapping during any sort of audible response. It slows us down and it also makes it uncomfortable for people to express maybe a conflicting opinion. So we'll start with Mansor Goodfar, please, and your pal there as well. And my associate here. Well, uh, thank you commissioners so much for your time. My name is Monsor Gidfar. I am a lifelong Boulder County resident. My grandfather taught at CU. My mother was born here. My two brothers and I were raised here. And I attended Boulder Schools from pre - K through undergrad. I'm now raising two sons in Boulder, including baby Z here. Uh, you may have heard some of his outbursts earlier. You know how young people are. They're very opinionated. Um, this community has changed dramatically since I was a kid. I see far fewer families. The population is older and wealthier. And Boulder is losing a lot of the character that made it such a special place to grow up. Um, these trends are driven by the rapidly accelerating cost of living an issue everywhere, but particularly acute in Boulder County and child care costs are one of the largest drivers. You'll get your turn. It is nearly impossible to find a child care option here that doesn't cost roughly the equivalent of most families monthly mortgage

1:43:42or rent. We spent six months on wait lists to find a daycare spot for our first son. And we've heard from other Boulder County parents who waited far longer. We put Zia here on a wait list a few days after he was born. And he will start part - time daycare next month, nine months later. My family is a case study in how much more expensive Boulder has gotten. We currently live in a similar - sized house in the exact same neighborhood where my parents raised me. We've compared notes with them. And our household needs to earn roughly four times what they did in order to maintain the same standard of living. We would have been considered middle class when I was growing up. Today, that feels like a luxury and it's one that we're very grateful for. But this kind of cost escalation is unsustainable for a community that wants to remain in place where families can thrive, professionally, I have worked at the Colorado State Legislature and with County Commissioners in Jefferson and Summit Counties. I am very sympathetic to the limitations of what can be achieved with the resources available at the local level. But all of us here today also understand that the federal government is not a stable or reliable partner right now. And we cannot count on consistent federal

1:44:49support for early childhood education anytime soon. That being the case, uh, I believe that we have to come together locally to take care of each other as best as we can and referring this measure to Boulder County voters is one of the best ways to do that. I urge you to refer this measure to the ballot so that Boulder County voters can have the opportunity to decide this issue for themselves. Thank you. And since I have a few seconds left here, I will also give my boy here a chance to weigh in. Zia, if you believe the commissioners should refer this measure, please be a cute little baby. Oh, he's considered. All right. Let the record reflect he is being a cute little baby. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. Bretson Magnamara, please.

1:45:41Commissioners, thank you for your time. My name is Bretton McNamara and I'm a resident of Longmont. I work as a school social worker and my wife is a school psychologist in St. Rand Valley School District. We have a 13 - month - old daughter and we have been experiencing the financial burden of child care in Boulder County. Because of limited spots and infant classrooms, we started getting on daycare waitlists over a year before our daughter would need it. On the low end, the cost of daycare for one year is over 20, 000 dollars. With both parents working full - time professional positions, we are fortunately a bit over the area median income for a family of three in Boulder County. And the only way we have been able to afford six months of daycare is because we started saving over a year in advance. This isn't sustainable for us and it's not remotely attainable for many families. Working for St. Francis School District, we were extremely excited when they announced they were going to open up a pilot program of daycare classrooms in the district.

1:46:33And we'll provide discounted rates for staff members. We immediately expressed our interest to have it spot in the toddler classroom, this school year, got on the wait list and eventually secured a spot. But as we looked ahead at the discounted array and considered what was able to be offered at the district program, we realized quickly that it was a negligible difference when considering the services they were able to offer. And the private agency will ultimately be less money by the time our daughter is two or two and a half years old. In my opinion, this shows that the system of child care is broken. We are proud St. Rayan Public Educators and we're grateful to our district for beginning to support staff and community in this way. But the cost to implement a daycare program and keep it running is clearly too expensive for even a sizable public school district to offer an affordable rate.

1:47:19Many of the families I work with in my role as a social worker in K - 12 education are often cost burdened and have limited choices and agency when it comes to childcare. This can result in families being stuck in the cycle of requiring services and resources from the city and county that costs more money on the back end for taxpayers than if certain preventative measures have been implemented. This is one of those preventative measures, and I believe it is the right next step that is available to support our community. I ask you to please consider referring this measure to the November ballot so that the Boulder County voters can decide. Thank you. Okay, thank you so much. Alejandro Beatty. Hallo Commissioners, Alejandra Beatty, President for Boulder Area Labor Council. And actually recent Lafayette Resident. So I am happy to say that. Yes, I will help pay this tax.

1:48:40Um, because I believe in sporting the children as well. Um, our Council voted on Tuesday to support this ballot measure and encourage you to refer it to the voters, um, because we have two aspects that we want to make sure to highlight. Um, well, we're no fans of flat taxes. This is why we got. This is where we're at. And this is an acute issue that we hear from workers again. In a big job to make sure that our future is taken care of. So I want to encourage that we look at these are our tax dollars, let's make sure really good solid labor standards are put into place. Including letting these folks join unions if they need to, letting them have again, good health care and medical services for themselves. So I want to continue to emphasize as important that we make sure providers are considered front and forward in this situation so that we don't continue to see people have poor wages across the entire county. Thank you for your time and please do vote to move this ballot measure forward. Great, okay. Thanks for joining us.

1:50:03Thomas Mahold. Thank you commissioners and thank you, Casey and Jake for your comments. I learned a lot and thank you Commissioner Lee, be for inviting us to learn something from our previous testimony. I did. I wanted to just talk in terms of numbers. I think Jake, you talked about morality and numbers. But to answer your question, Commissioner Levy, it's 106 million people who are not in the labor force, the known as NILF, because for any number of reasons, but child care lack thereof is one of the reasons. A second number, 9, 000 people in Colorado lost their SNAP benefits, 47 percent of the mere families Those kids are hungry. I think from what we're doing up in Netherland, feeding the kids is part of our program, and we really strongly in that and even involving them in food prep. Third number, I'd like to talk about is 30 cents a day, which is what we're talking about per household. With Jake, you said four to one return. I think it might be closer, from what I'm saying closer to seven, but none of my investments got that this year. None at all. So for 30 cents a day, I'd take that bet any day. Number, next number, 72 percent. Putting a Mile Loek, especially perpetual, take some courage. 72 percent of Netherlands ordinary cantank risk

1:51:38voters voted to support childcare. Um, if you can do this in Netherland, you can do it across Boulder County. So the last number I'll bring up is 55. That's how many days before we open up in Netherland, a brand new child care center that will have room for 90 kids, provide 22 new jobs, um, uh, just for the people working in our child care center, wish us luck, we raised a lot of money. We were really surprised in a town like Netherland, which isn't known for it as well. How many people step forward to help us get this done? Um, so my ask of you is, let's get this on the ballot for November 3rd. Leverage us, Casey and Jake, those of us that want to get out there, Jake, you've helped a lot of people tell their, get out and tell their story, bring us out there, uh, thank you, Boulder County for the Survive and Thrive funds that were critical to us getting us off the ground. And let's, let's go to work for the 6300 kids. I'll be benefited. That's all the numbers I got. Great. Thank you. Thank you. Annemarie Jensen.

1:53:00Hi there. My name is Ann Marie Jensen. I'm a Lafayette City Council member, and I've lived in Boulder County since 1988. I have raised two children and much of that time as a single parent. And I can tell you it was a struggle to find childcare. When I first moved here with an infant, I had to wait six months on awaiting list before I could get the infant in care. I recognize that taxes are never popular, but we are at a crisis. And when I campaigned for city council last year, the main thing I heard from people on the campaign trail was affordability about everything. It's not just childcare, but about everything. Families who cannot afford child care often rely on a loose network of family, friends, and neighbors to help care for children. This is often not the safest nor the most beneficial for children. These tact dollars will help make childcare more affordable, but they must be used thoughtfully and they must be put together with engagement from the childcare businesses and workers along with the parent community. Worker wages must be a part of the solution as has been proposed. In some cases high rents are the problem. In other cases, families need subsidies. All of these must be on the table and the commissioners need to create a structured system of

1:54:25input from those most well - positioned to help guide this funding. As a person who follows what the commissioners do quite a bit, I have been disappointed in the past when I believe the county did not engage residents in helping to make decisions about how funding is included or allocated, excuse me. I'm asking you to include language in this ballot measure about a citizen advisory committee that binds you to forming one so that you can include those folks in the decisions about how the allocations are made and when they need to be adjusted. And those on the ground doing this work are the ones who know that the best. So lastly, I want to say the system is broken. Nobody's getting rich providing child care. And, you know, it is businesses struggle when their employees can't find reliable care workers are struggling. Parents are struggling.

1:55:21It needs a systematic systemic approach. And I think that an advisory committee would help create that. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Greta Maloney. And you can see the order of testimonia up here on the screen. And if you're sitting sort of in the towards the center, you can start working your way to the, uh, to the aisle when you see that your name is coming up. So welcome and state your name and then we'll happy to hear your testimony. Okay. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Greta Maloney and I've been a Boulder County residence since 1957. I'm speaking today to urge you to pass this measure, uh, put it past this measure. Put this bat and measure on the ballot, uh, to help address the shortage of and high cost of child care and preschool for Boulder County Families. During my almost 20 years of experience working in the County Attorney's Office on child protection cases, also known as dependency or neglect cases.

1:56:20In Adams County for three years and then in Boulder County for 15 years, I learned a lot about child development. I learned that major cognitive, social and emotional development occurs in the child's early years, especially ages zero to three. And how important it is to provide care that supports the child's development in those early years, receiving needed care either at home or in a child care setting is essential for a child. In today's society, in order for parents to work, high quality child care needs to be available. I'm not going to cite statistics. You're hearing those from other people. Um, during my years of working in child protection, I saw the consequences for children who do not receive the needed early care. Try as they might, schools, therapists and other interventions cannot always make up for the early deficits and care and development of children.

1:57:12The result is that some children who have not had good early care do not deny the necessary cognitive, social and emotional skills. They may not be able to complete the necessary training or education to become self - sufficient and may need to rely on government benefit programs such as TANA for SNAP. They may end up entering the juvenile justice system. And later, the criminal justice system, studies have shown that high quality early care can increase the chance of a child succeeding in life. The return on investment is clear. Spending money on early childhood, reduces spending on government benefits. And the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems later. To make sure that every child has the opportunity to grow into a productive, independent taxpaying adult, we need to ensure the high quality affordable care is available for all children in those essential early years. My husband, Bob Pleich, who some of you may have known and who died four years ago today worked in the area of school finance. In the last 10 years of his life, our careers coalesced as he began to work in the area of early childhood. He evaluated among others that Denver preschool program, the PASO program, and Boulder County Head Start and served on the Board of the Early Childhood Council of Boulder County until his death. We worked together

1:58:34to support early childhood programs. The proposed ballot measure will help to ensure that high quality gear is available for all children Boulder County. And I know that Bob would join me in this request to place the proposed measure on the ballot. Thank you. Okay, thank you very much and always appreciate the work of your late husband. Holly Hendrickson. I don't see Holly coming forward. We'll move on to Rosa Maria Ramirez. And I don't see Rosa coming forward. Oh, here we go. I'm sorry. Didn't see you. Thanks. Okay. Um, buenas tardes comisionados. Mi nombre es Rosa María Ramírez y soy la directora de JHLCE en Lockmon. Antes que nada, gracias por brindarme la oportunidad de compartir mi experiencia como proveedora de cuidado infantil. Y por escuchar la voz de quienes trabajamos todos los días con los niños y las familias de nuestra comunidad. Hoy estoy aquí porque quiero hablar en nombre de muchas familias y de muchos proveedores de cuidado infantil que estamos viviendo las consecuencias de que el programa SICAP permanezca limitado. Nosotros queremos ayudar.

1:59:57Queremos abrir nuestras puertas a todas las familias que necesitan un lugar seguro para sus hijos. Un lugar donde reciban una educación de calidad desde la primera infancia donde aprendan valores desarrollan habilidades sociales descubran sus talentos y crezcan rodeados de personas que realmente se preocupan por ellos. Sin embargo, la realidad es muy diferente. Cada semana recibimos llamadas de padres que necesitan cuidado infantil para poder trabajar. Muchos de ellos califican para CCAP o están esperando que el programa vuelva a abrir por completo. Lamentablemente sin esa ayuda económica muchas familias simplemente no pueden pagar el costo del cuidado infantil. Cuando eso sucede no solo pierde la familia. También pierde el niño. Muchos padres tienen que reducir sus horas de trabajo. Rechazar oportunidades laborales o incluso dejar sus empleos porque no tienen quien cuide a sus hijos. Otros se ven obligados a buscar opciones de cuidado que no siempre ofrecen un ambiente seguro. Estable o educativo. Los primeros años de vida son fundamentales. Es durante esta etapa cuando el cerebro se desarrolla con mucho mayor rapidez y cuando los niños adquieren las bases para su aprendizaje. Su comportamiento y su futuro. Tener acceso a un programa de educación temprana de calidad puede cambiar el rumbo de la vida de un niño. Pero también quiero hablar del impacto que esto tiene en quienes ofrecemos el servicio. Los proveedores de cuidado

2:01:20infantil queremos ser parte de la solución. Queremos apoyar a las familias para que puedan trabajar con tranquilidad y sabiendo que sus hijos están seguros aprendiendo y creciendo. Sin embargo, cada vez es más difícil mantener abierto nuestros programas. Cada vez hay menos niños inscritos. No porque las familias no necesiten el servicio, sino porque ya no pueden pagarlo sin el apoyo de CCAP. Muchos pequeños centros y hogares de cuidado infantil estamos haciendo un enorme esfuerzo por continuar ofreciendo un servicio de calidad. Pero también enfrentamos el aumento en los costos de operación, materiales, alimentos seguros, salarios y regulaciones. Necesitamos que las familias puedan acceder al cuidado infantil, porque cuando ellas pueden hacerlo, todos ganamos. Invertir en la primaria infancia no es un gasto. Es una inversión en nuestra economía, en nuestra fuerza laboral y en el futuro de nuestra comunidad. Cuando un padre puede trabajar porque sabe que su hijo está en un lugar seguro, toda la comunidad se beneficia. Cuando un niño recibe una educación de calidad desde pequeño, toda la comunidad se fortalece. Cuando apoyamos a los proveedores de cuidado infantil, estamos apoyando a cientos de familias que dependen de nosotros todos los días. Hace seis años yo abrí Jaya Schulker porque creo profundamente en cada niño merece un lugar donde se sienta amado. Seguro y con oportunidades para aprender y desarrollar todo su potencial. Ese

2:02:49sueño sigue vivo, pero necesitamos el apoyo de nuestra comunidad para poder hacer realidad para más familias. Por eso les pido respetuosamente que permita que estar Boulder County llegue a la boleta electoral y que continúen buscando soluciones para fortalecer y ampliar nuestro programa como CCAP. Nuestros niños no pueden esperar. Las familias necesitan trabajar hoy. Los proveedores queremos seguir sirviendo hoy. Y juntos. Yeah, and we will have translation. Okay. We almost done. That is only one line. Can I say or? Can I win it? Terminó. Ok. Y juntos podemos construir una comunidad donde ningún niño se puede sin acceso a un cuidado infantil, seguro y de calidad por razones económicas. Muchas gracias por su tiempo, por escuchar nuestras voces y por considerar una decisión que puede cambiar el futuro de miles de niños y familias del condado de Bolter. Ok, thank you. Just before you start. I just did want to say that we did have the clock set at six minutes because we weren't going to have half the time for translation. So that's what we'll have now. Good morning commissioners. My name is Rosa Maria Ramírez. And I am the director of Yas Children in Longmun. First of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my experience as a child care provider.

2:04:08And for listening to the voices of those of us who work every day with the children and families in our community. Today I am here because I want to speak on behalf of many families and many child care providers who are experiencing the consequences of CCAP program remaining limited. We want to help. We want to open our doors to every family that needs a safe place for their children. A place where they can receive the quality early education, learn values, develop social skills, discovered our talents and grow surrounded by people who genuinely care about them. However, their reality is very different. Every week we receive calls from parents who need child care so they can work. Many of them qualify for CCAP or are waiting for the program to fully reopen. Unfortunately without the financial assistance, many families simply cannot afford the cost of child care. When that happens, it is only the family that loses. The child loses as well. It's not only the family that loses a child loses as well. Many parents have to reduce their work hours turned down job opportunities or even leave their jobs because they have no one to care for their children. Others are forced to seek child care options that do not always provide a safe, stable or educational environment. The early years of a child's

2:05:25live are critical. It is during this stage that the brain develops most rapidly and children build the foundation for their learning behavior and future access to a high quality early childhood education program can change the curse of a child's life. But I also want to talk about the impact that this has had that this has and those of us who provide these services. Childcare providers want to be part of the solution. We want to support families so they can go to work with peace of mind knowing that their children are safe. Learning and growing. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep our programs open more and more children are not enrolled. Not because families do not need the service, but because they can no longer afford it without CAP support. Many small childs care centers and family child care homes are making enormous efforts to continue providing high quality care. While also facing rising, operating costs for materials, food, insurance wages and regulatory requirements.

2:06:29We need families to be able to access child care because they can everyone benefits. Investing in nearly childhood is not an expense. It is an investment in our economy, our workforce. And the future of our community. When a parent is able to work because they know their child is in a safe place the entire community benefits. When a child receives a high quality education from an early age, the entire community grows stronger. When we support childcare providers, we are supporting the hundreds of families who rely on us every single day. Six years ago, I open yay as chalk hair because I deeply believe that every child deserves a place where they feel loved. Save and have opportunities to learn and develop their full potential. That dream is still alive, but we need the support of our community to make it a reality for more families.

2:07:23Therefore, I respectfully ask that you allow brighter star Boller County to move forward to the ballot and that you continue seeking solutions to strengthen and expand programs like CCAP. Our children cannot wait. Families need to work today. Providers want to continue serving today together. We can build a community where no child is the night access to save high quality childcare because of financial barriers. Thank you very much for your time for listening to our voices and for considering a decision that can change the future of thousands of children and families in Boulder County. Okay, thank you. So the next person on our list is Matt Eldred. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Matt Elred. I live in Longmont. I have a couple of, I have answered to a bulb of your questions. Commissioner Lochman, if you want about the, um, a couple of the property taxes or the initiatives in Summit County, that was a property tax and a short - term rental tax. It was a combination in 2018. And, uh, the confluence group in Eagle Garfield and Picken County was the first special district. And that was a 0. 25 percent sales tax and a two percent lodging tax So there have been a multiple variety of different mechanisms for tackling this problem across the state.

2:08:36So I just wanted to answer that for you. Uh, but thank you again for being here this afternoon. My name is Matt Eldred. I'm the executive director, CEO of TLC Learning Center. Also a member of the writer start, Boulder County, uh, group. And really glad to be here. I'm really excited to see all the folks in the room. And a lot of people have been doing this for years working on child care equity issues. So I'm going to not talk about statistics and stats because you've heard a lot about that, but I want to tell you a story about a TLC family. And also Epic is executives partnering to invest in child care issues throughout Colorado. That's a business group. That's a wonderful group in Colorado. So this family says, uh, when my child first enrolled at TLC Learning Center, my family was navigating a difficult moment. I was working hard to make ends meet going to school part - time. And like many parents in our community, I struggled with the overwhelming cost of childcare. DLC became a lifeline for us. Their support made it possible for me to remain employed. Stay in school.

2:09:28Continue providing for my family and to ensure my child had a safe, stable place to learn and grow. Our family was also a scholarship recipient of TLC Learning Center when we were not eligible for CCAP. But TLC provided more than affordable childcare. They played an essential role in my child's development. Through nurturing early education and therapy services, speech therapy to be exact. My child received consistent thoughtful support, the strength in their social skills, communication and confidence. As a mother, I have trusted the place where my child could thrive emotionally in development. Brought me a piece of mind and a sense of hope for the future. I'm proud to serve now as a member of the TLC Learning Center Boarder Directors. And I would never, uh, imagine myself in this role, but support received at TLC Learning Center have inspired me to be an advocate for others in our community. So high quality learning environments we know can make a difference for children. All across Boulder County, just like the Martinez family. So I hope today, uh, you'll be excited to hear testimony from other families and parents of how this impacts them. And I really look forward to being able to get past the approval stage so that we can really talk to the community about how we can make this happen. Uh, this year

2:10:36in 2026. So thank you for your time. And thank you for your dedication to this important cause. Thanks. Okay. Thank you very much. Suzanne Crawford. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Nice to see you all. As you said, I'm Suzy An Crawford with the sister Carmen Community Center in Lafayette. And I'm here on behalf of all the Boulder County Family Resource Centers. All three family resource centers, Sister Carmen Community Center emergency family assistance association and our center enthusiastically support the brighter start initiative. As you know, we are the safety net for thousands of Boulder County families who are struggling to make ends meet. The last few years we've seen demand for financial assistance, specifically rent assistance far outpaced the money that we have available. As a result, we've had to make tough decisions about how to allocate the money we have. As you know, the Colorado Center for Law and Policy estimate a few years ago that it takes a family of forum Boulder County 107, 000 dollars just to make ends meet. Most of the families we work with don't make anything close to that amount. Housing costs and child care costs are two of the biggest expenses and biggest stressors for the families we serve. Some couples or even telling us that they're making decisions about whether to conceive based on when

2:12:10and if they can get a child care slot. As a county, we desperately need more infinite toddler slots. If we want working families to be able to stay in Boulder County and raise children, we have to do something more to help them. We believe that the brighter star initiative. If past will help to financially stabilize lower income families that we serve, this will likely decrease the demand for financial assistance from the family resource centers. We urge you to refer the brighter star in a stiff to the ballot. Thank you so much for your service to this community and for your thoughtful consideration of this matter. Thank you. Sydney Ro. Good afternoon, uh, chair, Madam Chairwoman and Commissioners. My name is Sidney Rowe and I am the owner and operator of an insurance agency in Longmont, Colorado. The agency was started by my grandfather in the 80s just a few years ago. And, uh, is still running today. Um, I see a direct line between the health of running a business and having the infrastructure in a community that supports working parents. When members of my team who have children between birth and five, uh, also have a reliable place for early learning, I see them show up steadier. I see them stay longer. And I see them bring forth their best performance. That has real

2:13:44return, not just on the bottom line of the business, but also on the people that we serve every day who need backup plans when things go wrong and need that steady hand, steady heart and steady mind. So this isn't just a conversation for families. It's also an economic driver and it's just good business. I also see it as a parent. My partner and I are incredibly grateful, so grateful for my mother - in - law who takes care of our child. And, you know, if we didn't have her, that would, it would be very, very difficult, uh, for us. Um, you know, I think about that on days when the system just doesn't line up with a working schedule. Uh, for folks. And she fills for us, uh, a gap that many just have no way to fill. Um, so for these reasons, uh, I would ask, please, that you push this measure forward to the ballot and just let voters decide Boulder County does truly deserve a say in building a community that both businesses and our children need. Thank you so much. Okay.

2:14:59Thank you very much. Megan, how. Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Megan Howe and I'm here on behalf of the wild plum center. We have been in Longmont for 60 years. Um, for six decades, we provided high quality early childhood education that allows children to thrive while giving parents the opportunity to work and support their families. Just two years ago, we had 98 children enrolled through CCAP, bringing approximately 800, 000 dollars in funding. Last year, our CCACAP enrollment dropped to 28. And this year it will drop to 15. Um, I want to be clear that this is not because we don't have space. Our classrooms are open. Our teachers are ready. And we have the capacity to serve many children. The problem isn't a lack of availability. It's that families can no longer access the funding. Um. The consequences have been significant to make up for the loss of funding. We've eliminated nine positions across every, every level of our organization. These were not just numbers in a budget. They were dedicated people who cared deeply for children and families. Our children have felt the impact too because our classrooms have been under enrolled. One child spent six months alone in her classroom with just her teachers. Um, of course they cared deeply for her, but she wasn't

2:16:29able to learn, play, solve problems or build friends, friendships, during one of a really important period of her development. That is not the experience we want for any child. The need for care hasn't gone away. Families still need affordable, reliable care so they can work and programs like ours. Can function who are ready to serve them. Um, supporting the brighter start Boulder County Initiative is about more than funding childcare. It's about ensuring families can access the care that already exists, helping parents remain in the workforce and giving children a strong start. We have classrooms, teachers and expertise and commitment, but we need families to have access to the funding that allows them to walk through our doors. Um, please support placing this measure on the ballot. So voters have the opportunity to invest in the children, families and feature of Boulder County. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much for coming. Katie Farnhan. Good afternoon, Commissioners. And thank you for your time today. Um, my name is Katie Farnan. I live in Gun Merrill and with my husband and our two kids who are now 10 and 12. I'm here to ask you to refer a brighter start Boulder County Measure to the November ballot. When my kids were young, I worked full time.

2:17:47I still work full time. I worked full time to cover the cost of childcare in a job that I wanted to leave, uh, in 2019 my kids were four and five years old. And we paid 29, 190 dollars for full - time child care. And that was with the 2nd - child discount. I stayed in my job strictly because it gave me the flexibility to pick up and drop off my kids during the childcare centers hours. Um, I had wanted to try starting my own business for a while, but I couldn't risk losing that income. So I didn't do that. Um, our child care costs are pretty standard. As we saw in the presentation for Boulder County, and it was a real financial strain, even with both of us working, but we were still able to cover our housing and food and other things. Many families are making far worse sacrifices and trade - offs than I ever had to make. And yet their children deserve the same quality of care that mine received. Um, so this is a real issue here to be solved.

2:18:46Um, I saw that early childhood Council's investment framework that showed that it now costs a family more than 19, 000 dollars a year on average just for one child. Um, so those costs are going up. Uh, my kids have aged out of child care now, obviously, but I am happy to pay taxes for this service for my community. It's the same logic as, you know, our public school system. Our community is stronger and more resilient, not just when everyone in it has their basic needs met. But when we are all investing in that commitment. So I'd like to invest in that. So please refer this to the ballot for November. Thanks. Thank you very much. Emily Flake. Good afternoon. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My name is Emily and I live in Longmont. Um, I'm here as a parent to talk about that gap that exists between qualifying, um, for child care assistance like CCAP and actually being able to afford childcare. When I first applied for CCAP, I was told I make too much money to qualify. Looking at the numbers I made about 250 dollars a month over the income limit. Just 250 dollars. That wasn't an extra 250. I could spend on childcare. It wasn't enough to cover groceries. Rent, the cost of living. Let alone

2:20:08child care for my two children. Over time, my financial situation changed. Unfortunately, my husband had to reduce his hours. My family made less. So I applied for C - cap again. Once again, I was denied because I was just over the income limit. Since I last applied the income limit had increased, but the gap was still about a hundred dollars. Once my family go again last year, I applied a third time. My income hadn't changed, but this time I finally qualified. I thought I'd made it through. I thought things would get easier. Instead, I was told there was a freeze on enrollment. There was now a wait list. After applying three times, there was another obstacle standing between my family and affordable childcare. I'm not the only family living in this space. We're told we earned too much for assistance, but we don't earn enough to afford childcare. And even when the families become eligible, there isn't always help available. Pants in this cap, I'm not asking for a handout. We're working, we're paying taxes.

2:21:11We're doing everything we're supposed to do, but the math simply doesn't work. When the childcare Cosvival's mortgage payments being just a few hundred dollars over an income limit doesn't suddenly make childcare affordable. This is why initiatives like Botostart Boulder County Matter. They recognize that there is a real gap between public assistance and financial stability. Families don't stop struggling the moment they cross and income threshold. Support shouldn't disappear before affordability becomes a reality. So I hope you'll continue supporting solutions that help families caught in this gap. Investing an affordable child camp means investing in children, supporting working parents, strengthening our workforce and building a healthier community for everyone. Being commit says we can afford childcare. Our bank accounts tell a very different story. Thank you for considering putting brighter start Boulder County ballot initiative on the ballot this year. It's long overdue. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Emily. Jessica Perez. Good morning. Uh, good afternoon, everybody. My name is Jessica Perez. I am a single mother to my five - year - old daughter.

2:22:22I should say teenager because she acts like a teenager. Um, I'm also an infant toddler teacher at the Wild Plum Center. Before I found out, um, I was pregnant with Mia in 2021. I did not think anything about childcare. I didn't even know it was important to me until I became a mom. That's when everything changed. I wanted to do better for her, better for just to give her something different from what I was given. Um, let me see here. Life did not turn out the way I imagined. I ended up being a single mom. Unfortunately, but I had to carry the responsibility on my own. In the beginning I paid about four hundred dollars every two weeks for someone to watch Mia. It was expensive, um, and she was under the age of one.

2:23:06So of course that makes sense because she's an infant. Um, I had to manage this while I was working full time, like so many other parents. Then I found the wild plump center. They offered me a job, a daycare where I can pick up, draw her off. Um, I applied for CCAP, which I paid one month 150 a month, which imagine like as a single mom, 150, amazing, um, today I work in early childhood education. So I see both sides. I know what it's like to be a parent struggling to for childcare, but I also see the families we serve every day. This is why I support the bright star. And it helps family strengthens our community. And thank you for listening to me today. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. David Arendt. Hello and thank you for letting me speak here today. I am Dr. David aren't. I am a practicing pediatric physician here in the state of Colorado. And I live just up north and Longmont. So hopefully you believe me when I say I do really care about children's health and the best things for them. Um, the other hat I wear is that of a researcher where I spent a fair amount of time as a behavioral neuroscientist on a number of federally funded grants. Most of the time we

2:24:24were dealing with stress and stress coping as our research project. What are adverse environments? What are the negative effects they can have in on individual? And most importantly, what can be done to reverse those negative effects? And that's why I'm feeling passionate about early childhood care today because it actually is one of those things that can reverse a negative environment. And I'm talking, when I say negative environments, I'm talking about families that are at high risk, uh, not much money coming in the door. Perhaps negative behaviors are being displayed at home all of these are having a bad impact on the kids, which I'll talk about. The reason this is important is because early childhood care can reverse all of these things. And this is particularly important in groups of kids that come from high risk families. Just even having them out of the house and in a strong educational environment for a short amount of time in the day can increase learning having higher income jobs and more job opportunity. Can having them in an environment that they can display proper stress regulation can cause later life aggression to be lower and less criminal behavior. And then, uh, just basic health outcomes are better for kids who go to these daycares with significantly less diabetes and hypertension. The problem I see, which is everybody

2:25:49has laid out today is, in my small area, I'd say these children are having two strikes against them in Boulder County with these fees right now. The first is simple. It's just too expensive. That's money coming out of the pockets of the families. And we are in that is effectively increasing the amount of these children at at risk conditions. And the second one is there's just not enough room, uh, I think from the infographic, hundred children that the in this county right now. And that's, that's 2, 500 kids that just aren't going to have that opportunity to reverse any, any problems that come in life. So please support the ballot measure from writer starts. And thank you for your time. Okay. Thank you so much for joining us. Suzy Valdez. Good afternoon. And thank you for your time. My name is Suzy Valdez. I am the senior director of early childhood education at the Boulder JCC. I'm also a person that grew up here in Boulder and over the last 38 years, I have dedicated my career to our community's youngest learners and the educators who serve them for nearly four decades. I've worked alongside hundreds of teachers coaching them, mentoring them and guiding their professional development. I know firsthand how much skill and science goes into this work. We know that educators in these

2:27:17classrooms aren't just watching children. They're actively shaping the cognitive and emotional architecture of our future citizens. Yet despite holding one of the most critical responsibilities in our community, early childhood educators continue to be systematically underpaid. County. This wage gap doesn't just drive current teachers away. It halts recruitment altogether. Fewer people are entering this field because they simply cannot afford to live on these wages. Recruitment has become a continuous struggle to put it into perspective we had an open infant educator position for over a year before we found a qualified candidate. When lower wages trigger high turnover, which is 30 percent, the ripple effect hits our whole community. Children use those, lose those secure bonds during their most sensitive developmental period. Parents miss work or leave the workforce entirely and our local businesses lose reliable employees.

2:28:20We cannot build a thriving community on the backs of an underpaid exhausted and shrinking workforce. That is why brighter star Boulder County is so vital. Writers start directly addresses the root cause of this system wide breakdown by focusing on affordable childcare, expanding infant and toddler spots and workforce stabilization. By investing in livable wages, compensation, equity and sustained professional development, brighter start gives us the power to recruit new talent and retain our veteran educators. It transforms early care from a fragile network into a stable ecosystem that supports children, parents, and businesses alike. After 38 years in this field, I can tell you we do not lack passion in Boulder County. What we lack is a weight structure that allows qualified professionals to enter and stay in this field. I urge you to support brighter start Boulder County and get this initiative on the ballot in November.

2:29:15Our community needs this. Thank you for your time and consideration. Okay. Thank you very much. Marty Fisher. Good afternoon. I'm Marty Fisher, a Boulder County resident for 47 years. Over the years, I have seen many changes. I focus on the care and well - being of our young children and their families. And as a retired teacher, spending 20 years at Mountain View Preschool, I was aware of many changes. When my children attended that school, it was a play - based two and a half hour curriculum for our threes and our fours. By the time I retired, uh, let's see around 20, 010 or 2010, whatever, uh, it had a nine to three curriculum. Our director was able to change with the times to accommodate the changing needs of our families until it became difficult to find qualified teachers to work for the low wages.

2:30:17I was so fortunate to be able to teach for the love of the work. Sadly, that's school's closed. I'm currently focused on my children taking my grandchildren to and from preschool, public school, before and after school, volunteering in their kindergarten, which still highlights the need to get our kiddos on at least the starting line. Ready for kindergarten. Too many of our kiddos are falling behind that line, not enough school slots along wait list for all the services you've been hearing about qualifying for health, nutrition, therapies, of occupation and physical. All these services that help them to the starting line. Just imagine somebody needs a tooth filling, small and inexpensive at first. They are on a waiting list. That tooth gets worse with time and more expensive. It just won't wait. Just like the unmet needs of our very young children, they keep growing. I said also add. Um, that I am on a fixed income and would be happy to pay the additional 117 on an average per year that it would cost. It's like a large, uh, ziggy, hot spicy chai that I would miss once a month. If it means these children get to support that they need. Someone has said it better than me. Parents can't afford to pay. Teachers can't afford to stay. Please help us find another way. And thank

2:32:07you. And please let's get this on for the voters to decide. I appreciate your time tremendously. And I hope you never have to see my face again. We don't feel that way. Um, next we will hear from David Stewart. Good afternoon commissioners. I'm David Stewart, president of the Boulder Valley Education Association. And I'm here today to urge you to refer the brighter start measure to the voters in November. As educators, we see every day that a child success in school doesn't begin in kindergarten. It begins years earlier. Our members see the results every August. Children who have had access to stable, high quality early learning arrive better prepared to succeed while those who have been denied that opportunity often spend years trying to catch up. The first five years of life are the foundations for language, social development. And long - term academic success. Providing access to high quality early childhood education is one of the smartest investments a community can make. Unfortunately, too many Boulder County families, including educators, are struggling to access that opportunity. As you're hearing, childcare costs are through the roof.

2:33:36And leaving families with impossible choices between work and caring for their children. While members of my local earned professional wages, the costs of housing, coupled with the cost of having children in daycare are in childcare eat up all their salaries, forcing hard choices and debt incurment just to get through early childhood rearing years. As a teachers union, we understand that attracting and retaining talented educators requires competitive compensation. We also know that children benefit from stable relationships with caring, experienced, educators. When early childhood teachers cannot afford to stay in the profession, children, family, employers, and ultimately our K - 12 schools all feel the consequences. The brighter start proposal offers voters a comprehensive approach to helping make childcare more affordable for working families, expanding desperately needed infant and toddler care and strengthening the early childhood workforce through better compensation and professional support. These investments are intended to fill the gaps existing state and federal programs do not address. Brighter start is an issue that affects working families. Employers, educators, and our entire community. It deserves a public conversation and a public vote. On behalf of the Boulder Valley Education Association, I respectfully urge you to refer the brighter start measure to the November 2026 ballot. So that voters can determine whether this investment reflects the kind of community we want to be. Thank you very much

2:35:15for your time and your service. Okay, thank you very much. I do just want to do a time check. We have about 20 more minutes of testimony and I'm going to suggest that we go ahead and finish testimony and then take a quick break unless anyone needs. Is that okay? Needs a break sooner than that. Okay, great. We'll then go to Soledad Diaz. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Solat Díaz. I am the CEO. Why WCA Boulder County. An organization whose mission is to eliminate racism and empower women. From that perspective, we see that the child care crisis doesn't impact all families and all people equally. When Chalker is an affordable or unavailable women are still too often the ones that are living the workforce, reducing their hours, delay education, let go of good opportunities of growth.

2:36:21And for low - income families and low - income women of color, immigrant families, single mothers and survivors of domestic violence, the impact is even more severe. The lack of reliable child care can mean losing income, losing housing housing. Missing court dates, appointments, lack of access to services they need. To build safety and independence. We cannot talk about economic stability without talking about telker. We cannot talk about housing stability without talking about health care. We cannot talk about safety for women and children without talking about child care. Childcare is an infrastructure issue. It allows parents to work. It supports employers. It keeps families housed. It gives women real choices about work, about safety, about education and about owning their future. For children, high quality early childhood education helps break the cycle of poverty. It means that they have access. To opportunities that their family hasn't have. They need to help build that foundation. That will prepare them to enter school. To learn, ready to belong, ready to succeed. Ready to be part of the boulder that we want to build. But here's the key. It's only three years. We don't get a do - over.

2:37:53Every child will miss. Is a child we missed. We don't get to bring them back. To provide this so much needed care. When the child care system is underfunded, the burden doesn't disappear. We just shifted. And we shifted into women. We shifted into families. We shifted into the educators that are often women and offer underpaid. So here, the burden doesn't disappear when we donate trust issue. We just put in someone else's shoulder. A public investment, I'm sorry, in early childhood is not charity. It's a core investment in the economic health safety and well - being of this county. If we want a community where families can stay, where women can work, where survivors can rebuild their lives. Where the children can thrive and where our values of equity and opportunity are real, then we must invest in childcare. I ask you to support this measure as presented. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will now go online to Karen Manahan. Hi, are you able to hear me? Yes, we can. Thank you so much.

2:39:11My name is Karen Manahan and I'm the board chair for Boulder Day Nursery and a working parent of a four - year - old. I know firsthand the challenges that are facing our incredible childcare providers and teachers. Our parents and our broader community who are relying on childcare either directly like myself and many others or indirectly. Everyone is impacted by folks'ability to access high quality early childhood care. For our friends who are parents at the school. Childcares only within reach thanks to CAPS subsidies, many of which we know are frozen or going away. And without it, we see them facing choices like leaving the workforce, which sustains their ability to cover all of their other needs or finding unlicensed or inconsistent care, which can also lead to them losing their jobs. We know that this impacts all of us, but it disproportionately impacts women of color. For the incredible staff and leadership at BDN. I see how this work can be undervalued. How we're trying to make it, um, not to be underpaid and how truly important all of this work is to us, everything that they do. I firmly believe that this is a public good and not a private luxury. And I'm in strong support of referring this measure to the ballot. And just want to thank you so much for your time

2:40:37and consideration. Okay, thank you for your testimony. Uh, next we have Yiji Wang. Hi. Uh, my name is Euj. I'm a local mom to a 15 month year old. So I've also personally experienced a lot of these issues. And, uh, my background is that I wasn't economics major and I'm also currently a finance and operations professional have been so for over 10 years for companies ranging from early stage startups to 4 and 500 companies. And so while I highly like, um, agree that these are really important social issues. I don't believe that the plan as it currently stands has the rigor needed to target, to have the targeted impact. So, um, from what I could find publicly on the investment plan, the majority of funding is going to subsidies, which will only make the capacity issue worse. Um, a very small share is going to increase in capacity and compensation. I don't think anything will have an impact on increasing capacity and retention unless we address the compensation piece, which should be that biggest focus.

2:41:52If we want to have a sustainable impact, also the particularly high three million on a 30 million dollar initiative, the amount budgeted for administrative fees is higher than the amount budgeted for going towards compensation increases, which I believe is the highest impact lover. And then also just running through like the numbers, the numbers also don't tie for, um, for infant and toddler slots versus like what was stated as a total thoughts. So I don't believe that the plan as it currently stands is financially or economically viable and would want major revisions done before, uh, before moving forward. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for that testimony. Lori Schropsher. Almost done. Hi, hello commissioners. Thank you for bringing this to the agenda today. Such an important topic. I'm Laurie Schraubzhire. I'm a small business owner in Longmont.

2:42:55I'm also board member on the Longmont area Chamber of Commerce. And I want to share how the lack of safe affordable, reliable child care effects, not only the families, but also small businesses like mine. I have just three employees. And every time a person or every person is very essential to our business to keep it running. And so when someone has to take time off work, it affects everyone in the business. Last year, one of my best employees decided not to return to work after having a new baby because of the availability for infant child care and also the expense of it. And it wasn't going to work out for her financially, which meant that I had to, I'm losing her years of knowledge and experience and then having to find someone to train and replace her. I also have two employees for a single parents. And when the unexpectedly lose childcare, they don't have many options. They either have to take time off work.

2:43:46Sometimes vacationer PTO or even go without pay. In some cases, I allow them to bring their child to work simply because they don't have anywhere else to turn. Just yesterday, and ironically received a text message from one of them. And she said, hi Lori, my son has no childcare tomorrow. May please bring him over in the morning. And then he and I will go home at 1230. As a working mom, I understand these challenges. And I try to support them any way I possibly can. But every mistake impacts our ability to serve our customers meet deadlines and keep our business operating efficiently. It creates stress, um, for everyone involved. And it's not because the employees don't want to work. It's because they don't have a dependable child care. I also want to just address a common misconception that for us, it's not simply a minimum wage issue. I pay all my employees over 20 dollars an hour because I value their work. And I want them to earn a good living. Even so finding affordable child care still remains one of the biggest challenges they face. Higher wages alone is not going to solve this problem. We have safe, affordable and available child care necessary.

2:44:58What's most disappointing for me is that this is not a new problem. When I was a young 20 year old mother, I struggled with the same issues raising my own children and they are now in their 20s. And I remember the stress of trying to balance work responsibilities and find dependable childcare. Here we are 20 years later. We're having the same conversations the same burdens are following on working parents and employers. So child care should not be viewed simply as a family issue. It's an economic issue. It affects workplace participation. Employee retention. Business productivity. And the ability of small businesses like mind to be able to grow succeed and provide jobs for families. When parents can find dependable childcare, everybody feels the impact, including the children who need the care. Thank you for taking the time to put this on the us and please put it on the ballot. Thank you for your testimony. We'll go to Stephen Hoffman next, please. Okay. I'm here now, am I? Yes. You're here. And I mispronounced your name.

2:46:03I'm sure. Oh, well, I'll tell you. My name is Stephen Hoffman. And my husband and I, Tom, moved to Longma in 2018. Both our children are in their 50s. Our grandchildren to our 17 and 20. And none of them live in Boulder County. Um, however, my husband is a retired junior high school teacher and I am a retired nurse. He still teaches GED under Elcoma day. In my home visits as a public health nurse, I had conversations with mothers of infants, mothers of toddlers, mothers of school age children. Mothers of children whose children didn't behave very well. And so I've seen lots of kids and parents. But during my time at the health department, in Ohio, I saw what a difference it makes to children and their families who have access to quality childcare. Better parenting is a good example of the difference childcare makes, happier proud parents as well. The children are also happier and proud to show what they've learned. They're also learning to moderate modulate their behavior as well. There never seems quite enough money from the state or federal government to fully support the changes needed in the current healthcare system.

2:47:38And that certainly doesn't seem to be going away. And yet the children and families language. To me, this resolution makes the most sense to get children into childcare and families out into the workforce. Let's let the voters decide on the November ballot to support the resolution. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. And is Jane Miller here. Okay. I do not see anyone coming forward or promoted on the screen. Do we have anyone else who would like to speak to us this afternoon? Um, I'll start by stating your name for the record. I don't support this. And it's not because I don't appreciate everything that you'll have to speak into a microphone. Everything that everyone has said is absolutely true. It's a matter of who pays. And I'm sorry, but you need to manage your budget better.

2:48:40And you need to get the developers online for pain for the costs of promoting things like LIDETEC and the other federal growth hormones that the Trump administration is pushing on Boulder County and the city. And in general. And we need to get out of our wars in Iran with Palestine Israel. Sorry for any people that I offended with my shirt. Sorry about that. But, um, we need to get out of these wars. Um, these people that are displaced from their houses and that Rachel friend who targeted me, um, exclusively probably because of Palestine, but also municipalization. She's our new County Treasure and she's going to put foreclosures on all of these people. All of these people that can't afford anymore because of the childcare situation. And all I can say is from my experience with Rachel Wren, she lied that I followed and shoved her and collaborated with Jessica Benjamin, city Council Person's wife that I followed her and collaborated with the police themselves, Julie Morris in particular that Julie lied with, you know, the problem is we've got to justice problem in this town.

2:50:06And, you know, I knew I couldn't go to trial and win in this town with Steve Redfin here because of that corruption. There's far too much corruption here. And this is just not okay. And the corruption goes deep into the planning board. And I'm constantly fighting for the developers to have to pay. They get every subsidy. And this pushes housing costs up. And all of these people that are experiencing all these troubles. And I liked also what Yi Weng said. It wasn't enough. It's never going to be enough. And it's never going to be enough as long as we are budging in about Palestine. We need to free Palestine. That's what we need to do. That's when we will be swimming in funds after that. But meantime, you know, Marta's concerns about perpetuity, you know, like how is this, this is a perpetual problem. All of this is a perpetual problem. You know, my daughter, I can't tell her to have a kid because, you know, kids always do the opposite of what you tell them. And, um, you know, in this, your time is up. Financial situation, what's she going to do? Your time is so me. I don't get any grandkids, do I?

2:51:35Okay. Thank you. I will make a last call for anyone who would like to testify. Come forward. And welcome back to a room that you have spent a lot of time in. So good afternoon. Madam Chair Commissioners. My name is Jose Heath. And I agree with so many of the comments that the supporters have already made. I too ask you to put this issue on the ballot. There are two things that haven't been mentioned though that I think are worth considering. And the first is that for all of us involved in policy, we are so concerned about affordability. It's complex. It's so serious. And I think of all the things that we need to do to work on this childcare is probably the one that we could more quickly implement. And it's, there's build out on any one of the issues on affordability. But this particular ballot issue, if it passed, can make a difference more quickly. And I think the second point I want to make is that for many years I have worked on the issues around achievement gap in Colorado, particularly in Boulder County. That remains. In fact, it's grown. And we know that early childhood and that kind of opportunity and access makes a huge difference in closing that achievement gap.

2:53:08So I ask you to consider putting this on the ballot. And thank you for your interest in this. Thank you. Okay. Thank you for joining us. Thank you for your testimony. One last call. Okay, return. Oh. They're lining up. All right. You start. Please. No, no, no. Come on. Let's get your name for the record. And then you'll have three minutes. Thank you very much for allowing me to speak at the last minute. Um, my name is Richard Garcia and I am retired activist from here in Colorado. Uh, I just want to say a couple of things about family friend and ambry child care. In 2006. The city of Boulder received a grant. To see if there was an informal child care network. In Boulder County. And we did find it. So the provider's advanced student outcomes Paso began in Boulder County in Longmont, Colorado. And the reason we, uh, got involved in that is because we knew of the concerns that many community members had around unsafe providers taking care of children. So we decided we put together a program called providers advancing student outcomes with the support of the city of Boulder and the grants that they got from the federal government. And, uh, we did focus groups. We did all kinds of work around trying to identify this informal

2:55:04child care network. Thus, family friend named child care started in Boulder County. Uh, in 2006. Consequently, the Colorado Seaway Parent Coalition has trained over 3, 000 Bounty Friend named child care providers throughout the state of Colorado. Many of them reside here in Boulder County. Uh, I just want to urge the County Commissioners to go ahead and pass. This resolution to put this particular initiative on the ballot for November 2026. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you. And Nicole, if you want to come forward. Thank you so much. I appreciate you hearing from us all today. And apologies for my last minute thing. I wasn't sure if I could fit this in with some other meetings. Um, I wanted to address Nicole Spear and just want to note that I am speaking in my individual capacity.

2:56:00I'm not here on behalf of Boulder City Council or my colleagues. Um, I wasn't, uh, I was taken by a question that you had Commissioner looked at me about the demographic changes. Um, I think this is a very important thing for all of us to be paying attention to right now. Um, and just wanted to speak to that a little bit, um, if I remember correctly, the Democratic projections for Boulder County are that the number of children will stay about the same, um, and so not having enough spots now means that we won't have enough spots in the future as well. Um, so, so I don't, I don't see this as a need that's going to kind of go away over time. Um, I think it will stay. And you can correct me on this and commissioner, leave it. You're on Dr. Hog - 2.

2:56:41You may remember these details better than I am. Um, but it will hold relatively steady. So I don't think we're going to be in a place where, um, we will be investing money in, but not having any return back. Um, there's also going to be a lot of growth in Western Weld County. A lot of people who will work around here too. And, um, there is value in having a child care next to where you work or in the same county. Um, I also want to speak just to what I see and hear, uh, in the city of Boulder, um, a lot of older folks are now providing childcare because they either their children cannot afford childcare for their grandchildren or they can afford it, but there aren't any spots. And so I see this taking a toll on our aging population as well. Um, people over 65 giving up their time, their retirement, um, careers that they may have had to help out their children with their, their grandchildren's child care. So I do see this as something that will have kind of some broad appeal there. And we are very, um, fortunate in having healthier than, uh, typical, um, older adults in our county, um, and also it is an additional stressor that families are experiencing across all demographics as far as I

2:57:52can tell. Um, so I just wanted to thank you. I don't have anything to add in relation to my own experiences with child care, which were 16 and change years ago, um, but if, if anything, it seems like the challenge is that my family had was child care back then are exacerbated now, um, and I just want to thank you for considering this measure. Thank you for, uh, thinking about giving us to the voters. I think it's a wonderful measure to offer to voters and see if this is something that they would support. So thank you so much. Okay. Thank you. So I will close the public hearing. It's 310. I know I need a break. So, um, I think we'll try to make this quick and be back in five minutes. So it would be now 316 and we will reconvene and try to finish this out.

2:58:55They are. All right. We're recording. Okay, we are back on the record and we have closed public testimony. I will invite Casey. I don't see Jake, but I'll let you, if you have any closing comments you'd like to make. And then we'll have some discussion. I think we may need to discuss possibly some warding changes and stuff, but we'll get to that. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Lee, and thank you once again to the Board of County Commissioners for listening to us. My just responses is one, thank you again to our community, to all of the folks who gave up their Thursday afternoon to come and speak to you about this. And everybody online as well. The second comment is just to address one of the Virtual folks and what they made mention about the workforce investment and the numbers associated there. And that makes sense that what we are calling for out of this total investment is that the least amount does go to workforce.

2:59:59But this is a three - legged stool. And I remember this is all connected. And so what I would say to that is that when we invest in affordability and we get family subsidies up and going, that is revenue to childcare providers. When we give childcare providers options for capital improvements and to expand, again, not on the backs of parents and charging more, that is revenue that providers get a keep. So we do believe that this mechanism can increase overall revenue to providers. Lastly, I would just say, again, we believe that this conversation, or excuse me, this question is ready for Boulder County Voters to weigh in on. And we were just encouraged you all to let Boulder County voters decide this election cycle. Okay, thank you. Jake, any other function? No, my apologies commissioners.

3:00:44I was revalidating my parking. So I'm sorry. Mal set. I love the county, but yeah. Okay. All right. Well, then thanks everybody for giving us your input on this. We do have some resolution language and a ballot title that is before us. It was in our packet. And that is what we are actually going to be deliberating about and making a decision on. And I want to get to my page with that. Commissioner Luchamin. Thank you. Before you move into technicalities of a resolution language, I did have just a couple of questions. I wondered if, I'm so sorry. I should have asked whether they were, yeah. Thank you. I'm looking at presenters just based on a couple of the items I heard in public comment and wondered if you could address those, um, one of them was, uh, Rosie was talking about ambiente educativo. And I'm just curious about the, if there is anything in the language, the commitments, the campaign about ensuring that taxpayer funds would be used for an educational environment versus we've got hundreds of emails. I'm sure you can imagine on a whole bunch of different, you know, ideas, concerns, et cetera, around this item. And so one of the kind of themes has been around. Taxpayers paying for daycare versus what I'm hearing some of like educational, um, like early

3:02:29childhood education versus what is being kind of discussed as simple daycare basic day coverage. I know that's simplifying it. But I just wanted to know if then here that would, um, address equality education piece. And it might be through inspections or some other press as I don't know. Um, sure. Thank you, Commissioner Lichman. I can, I can try to address that. What our plan calls for, and I guess from a semantic standpoint, we don't necessarily, we don't differentiate, you know, daycare versus, uh, early care and education. We believe all of this taken together as early care and education. And so to that end, what the plan calls for is, um, in terms of eligibility requirements, it would be for licensed childcare providers of any kind to be eligible for these. And we haven't necessarily laid out the full gamut of qualifiers depending on, you know, the, what part of the plan you're discussing about. And then there's also an inclusion from the workforce standpoint, uh, with our license exempt FFN providers as well. Okay. Thank you. And then I wondered there was an ask from Anne Marie about an advisory committee. And I didn't hear that in the presentation. So I was just curious if that was something that, um, folks who are working on feel like, are you all wanting to give some recommendation

3:03:47to the county about that? Um, so I just wanted to hear address, please. Yeah. Thank you again for the question. I don't know that we have an official recommendation for something like that, but we would be certainly open and happy, uh, to see a community advisory, uh, board or advisory board be a part of this. As an implementation tool. Thank you. And as any, any issue, I mean, fill in the blank topic, uh, about Boulder County and there's an ask to have some type of a border and advisory committee and generally speaking, we have 29 boards and advisory committees to hear at the county. And I know all the cities and towns have their own. Is there, is there a current group? And I'm looking at this room because I feel like you are the right people to ask. I'm just, I would be very surprised if there were any occurrent group that's doing child care or really childhood care or education or daycare work.

3:04:42Is that, am I correct? Yes. Thank you again for the question. I think that maybe I'll put my early childhood Council hat on our organization has an advisory Council. And this is comprised of childcare providers and parents and professionals in the field that get together on a regular basis, review issues, offer feedback, do some advocacy work as just a part of our organization's makeup. And so I think to answer the spirit of your question, that does exist. It's through currently our organization. Okay. Um, thank you. And then the only other question, online, and maybe that's what you were addressing previously. I'm not sure, but it was a question around compensation and the percentages that were presented. And I wonder if you could speak to that. Yes. Thank you again. That is what I made mention of earlier, which is as it relates to the plan, as you see it, the, um, out of the entire plan, the least percentages allocated are being recommended for that workforce stabilization fund. But it doesn't mean that this is not central to the plan. And what we believe is that if we restore CCAP, if we have tuition assistant for families, those are revenue streams that childcare providers can then count on. And then when we offer things like opportunities for them to get a capital and support mechanisms

3:05:56to expand, those are again, revenue streams that childcare providers can rely on as well as this workforce development fund that zero's in and focuses on workforce alone. That is also a new stream for childcare providers to rely on. So taken all together, we believe that this plan has the ability to increase revenue over all that providers will have access to to pay better wages to be in operation longer. Okay. And I'm just listening to the public comment, part of what you just said is what is coming to my mind. And I'm curious on the workforce stabilization part. Of how do we, like how do you square using taxpayer funds. To subsidize one sector of the workforce. When we have other meetings that look like this where people are asking for a 25 dollar minimum wage as an example. And so like and what I heard you say is that innately, if we increase the system, the more revenue, in which case that particular business owner could make the decision to pay their workers, a higher wage or a different wage, right? So I'm just trying to get to, I'm trying to walk through that. Yeah.

3:07:15Thank you again for the question, commissioner. I think the way that I would respond to that is the workforce stabilization fund offers avenues for childcare providers to invest in their employees depending on what they need. So if you're expanding and you need to hire a lot of employees quickly, you can, uh, reach out or you could get access to, um, hiring bonuses. If you are, uh, or an organization that needs to hire substitute so that you can get your staff to professional development opportunities and an absence of substitutes. You don't get to go to professional development opportunities. That is what that fund would be for. It is for you program unique one time support mechanisms to prevent childcare providers from adding it to tuition cost to families. It is not supplemental to, uh, their annual, uh, wages. It is about increasing compensation depending on what that, uh, that childcare provider might need in that year.

3:08:11And this is where we have to keep in mind that our early care and education system is vastly different in terms of the way that it's structured. Sometimes we have large facilities. Sometimes we have, uh, in - home providers, right? Like it all looks very different. And so we wanted to allow for that freedom for childcare providers to say, this is what we need right now. Thank you. Those are my questions. Thanks. Okay. Um, Commissioner Stolzman, any questions? The only question I have is for you, Madam Chair. Just I know that you had found some Scriveners errors in the resolution. And I wondered if they had been updated if the resolution is its posted has corrected it. And just by Scriveners Airs, I just mean like typos commas, things like that that needed correcting. Yeah.

3:08:52Um, I think they were not updated. I'm going to turn to our deputy. Uh, Natalie Springan Commissioners deputy. They have not been updated in the resolution that's posted. Um, so happy to defer to the board. And if it's easy, I have a presentation showing what those changes would be. Yeah. I think when we get to where we're ready to actually look at the language, we can put that on the screen. And as you said, they're just a couple of Scriveners errors, a couple of, yeah, omissions. But we can, what we adopt will be the amended language. Okay. I'm just wondering when we're going to see it officially. I was, I try to take track of things that were changing or not changing. And so I was just trying since we typically have the vice chair make the motion. I just like to understand if I need to keep track of those things when you say them or if they've already been handled. And so it sounds like I need to keep track as you say.

3:09:48Well, I don't. So the, the, um, the posted resolution hasn't changed in the posted ballot title. Haven't changed, but Natalie has the language, which will show on the screen. And so I think you'll be able to refer to that amended language. Okay. Just collectively. Yeah. All right. I think so. That's my hope anyway. Uh, okay. And I don't have any other questions. Um, really outstanding presentation. And thanks everybody for your testimony. Well, probably all have some comments a little bit later. So, um, well, who would like to kick us off on this? I'm happy to kick us off. Um, I appreciate everybody's all the emails and the phone calls and the, uh, discussions and the Facebook messages, good things. And you all for being here and taking time out of your life and your commitments, uh, to be here in the room. And you all for being here for questions and all the preparation. You know, if we just deliberately, because we're being asked to make a decision on this, I am a previous educator.

3:11:01I am a parent. I was not able to afford as a single mother preschool from my own kiddos. Um, and when I finally was able to do like a three month out of, I think it's supposed to be a full school year. The complication was actually not something that's addressed here. Like how do I as a single parent take my kid somewhere for two and a half hours in the morning when I'm supposed to be at work. Like there's for me, the system is bigger and the other issues. That I was listening for, like, how does this like in real life. And I do believe that we have a child care crisis. And I do think there's an education issue. And I think there's an early childhood education or a daycare or however we want to talk about it. Um, I also hear from a lot of people around the state and in Boulder County about the rise of costs. And inflation. And we have a federal government who has turned its back on the American people, period. We are now in a state budget issue. So I like the spirit of locally, we're going to solve our own problems. And I also feel like it sets us up to be in a situation where we could permanently be having to fix our own issues

3:12:24where I'm still optimistic. It might not sound like it in my voice. I'm still optimistic that the United States of America can get to a point where we would prioritize our youth. And we would take care of people and families that want to go to work and they'll want to, and want to build businesses and want to eat healthy food. So I'm still optimistic. But that's a portion of, for the Board why I'm really interested in a bit of conversation, if there's interests from another commissioner about shortening the length of time, um, thinking about some of our other Boulder County about our approved taxes that were like 15 year taxes. I'm just optimistic that we don't take on the burden as Boulder County residents. And we create solutions as we're moving and we do our influencing as elected officials and all the other things to keep this issue at the forefront. So that's one of the pieces that I'm interested. In case you're not sure, I am interested in moving this measure as somebody said, um, in the public comment, just let the voters decide was the quote. And I am also very worried as the person of color at the dais, um, I bring into this conversation the despair in PECs of everything that happens. In this county. There are people that are not

3:13:49here in this room. There are people that are not as privy and not as savvy around ballot measures and elections. And the resolution language will never be completely plain language. Um, and those are folks that are at work right now. And that will be work at tonight. And that will be working in the middle of the night. And I say that because I have been that person here in Boulder County. Working three jobs to take care of all the things that we're talking about. And they're all connected. And I agree that it's housing and it's healthcare. And as all the pieces, but it concerns me. When we're looking at a 2. 579 mil option that there are people that are going to be impacted that have no idea that we are sitting in a hearing room right now. And this is the same conversation I have last year about mental health behavioral health tags. Is it important? Yes. Are there people that are going to be impacted that have no idea what's happening right now in this room? Yes. Um, and so that is the other reason I was doing a little inquiry about the proposal of 30 million. There's no question that we need the funding, but I do also think that there is no question that people are burdened right now. Because of

3:15:02all of the cost of living in this country and in this, uh, the state of Colorado. So that is, I think those are a couple of things I would love to have some discussion about. I'm in support of moving it. I would love voters to be able to decide if they want to tax themselves to be able to address an issue that the state of Colorado is not and that the federal government is not. I would like us to have some discussion about changing from perpetuity to 15 years. And also some discussion about instead of the 2. 579 mils, which is, I heard approximately 30 million, um, to move that to 2. 0 mils, which would be about 24 million and I appreciate you Natalie. Stop somebody at OFM was doing calculations. What I didn't hear back, it sounded like assessors office. I'm looking at SSRF and stuff. Somebody might be looking at, um, that calculation just to have an understanding of the comparison of the 110 to 120 annual cost for property owner here in Boulder County just for us to have an idea.

3:16:02But, um, but so that's just to get us started in conversation and really appreciate it. And, uh, Commissioner Lochamin, I was curious, we do have the assessor staff available to provide that information on the record. I think if there's another commissioner who's interested in that, that'd be, I'm happy to have staff participate and really appreciate. I'll be in here. Yeah. Let's, let's see if that is a conversation. We want to spend any more time on Commissioner Stolzman. I'll let you weigh in first. Thanks so much. Yeah. Um, just really grateful of all the time that the childhood Council members and community members have put into talking about this thinking about this looking at various aspects, talking about different approaches over many years. This isn't just a like couple of months activity. This is taking quite a lot of effort and time. And I just thank you for all of that. Time you've put in. Uh, I remember talking to Casey at one point around, well, maybe we could get the state law to change around what they're doing with lodging tax so that a loging tax solution could work here in Boulder County. Unfortunately, they didn't make those changes. Um, so well, you know, we heard some counties are doing a lodging tax or some counties are doing a sales tax or this or that.

3:17:08We really are restricted on what types of taxes we can use as a county. It's not the same suite of choices that immunicipality has. So when I get some really great suggestions from people of like, why don't you do an excise tax on just this one good that like luxury boats or something that would be like, you know, we could really raise funds and it would be less regressive. And why don't you do that? And the reason is counties don't have the authority to do those types of taxes in Colorado currently. We would need a state law change. So we really are limited. And the two choices that we really have that would generate any type of revenue our sales tax or property tax. And so, um, both create problems. I've gotten, you know, notes from folks about affordability and things like that. And even still, this is a really great solution in my opinion.

3:17:54I think if we try to reduce it down, I think we shortchange the success of the program. The CCAP frees alone takes up quite a lot of the funding. And as we know, the child care block grant from the federal government is insufficient to cover the number of kids that we need to serve. And while I really support the idea of a universal preschool program the way we funded it in the state has ended has ended up really, um, herding low income families, unfortunately. And I love the idea that someone else might come, um, and provide a solution for us. But I don't see it happening. Um, we've seen this from time and time again that, um, if we want to solve our problems, we'll come together and solve them as a community. So from my perspective, this is a really solid way to put forward. How can we help the lowest income families in the community relief get really from that freeze on the cap? How can we help teachers? What drives me crazy every time we look at the minimum wage conversation is that teachers are some of the lowest paid people in our community, which as we heard from community members is absurd. It just doesn't make any sense that something that we all will say how much we value that we

3:19:00don't pay and show our value through the pay. So I think trying to go about addressing the pay is so important. And then about addressing space is incapacity. We have a lot of rules in Colorado. They're really important. It's about child safety. It's about all the kinds of things we care about. It makes it expensive for the businesses to run. So I think the stool you've put together is good. I think it is expensive and the voters will have to think about it. And I'm pretty confident that they'll decide that this is great investment. And we'll really help our community. But I would like to give them a chance to decide that. And we'll hear from them and we'll do whatever they ended up saying. So I would put it forward with the mill rate that's listed. I would do it in perpetuity because there has never in my lifetime been a lack of need for a childhood early childhood education. And it's so critical and fundamental for society. We hear about that all the time. This would put something in place that we didn't have to wonder. Do we have to renew this in three years? Do we have to spend more money campaigning?

3:19:53Do we have to try again to get this again? So I would just put it in perpetuity. And in the future, if something happens where people live forever and they stop having children and we're all computers, the voters can decide to change it at that time. So even perpetuity is not truly perpetual. It just would keep us from having to run, um, ballot measures every few years on something that's like a fundamental basis for our community. So I would leave it. Um, as perpetual. And our folks that feel like unheard with them, we did get a number of emails from people with affordability issues. It isn't for, for lack of hearing and understanding the commissioners are one of the only districts in the county that took a credit levy to reduce our overall property taxes over the last, a voluntary credit levy over the last several years where other districts, if you look on your property tax bill did not. And so like we hear that and understand that. And from the, there were several questions about, you know, businesses versus, um, residential. In our county, businesses pay about half of the property tax and residential pays about half of the property tax. And in the 80s when they were really talking about Gallagher, which is now gone, but I actually think was a good

3:21:01tool in place to balance things. It was really a conversation about how should we fund these important societal things and should businesses pay some of it and showed residents pay some of it. And I think the answer is yes. Business is really neat and rely on a functioning child care system to be able to have economic success. People in neighborhoods and houses really rely on a functioning child care system to have a vibrant community and success. So I think that there is something that should be paid from both entities because of how we've structured taxes over time in Colorado. It has really, um, depressed commercial property values over time. So yes, while you'll see that maybe on a similar, like on a million dollars of value, they may pay more residential property has inflated at a rate that is very different than commercial property over time. So on a square footage basis, it's not all that different. So I do think you can make some pretty reasonable arguments about why even though the assessment ratio on business is higher than it is still a very good value for the businesses that'll have to pay that.

3:22:03And will it be hard for all of us? Yes. Every single one of us is going to have to say, what are we going to forgo to be able to pay for this? And as a community, I think we'll find that there's value in doing that. So I would like to move this forward. Okay. So I'm not hearing interest in changing the duration or the, uh, the mill levy rate. I'll just add a few thoughts here in that, uh, and I, uh, really support the plan as presented. I know that an incredible amount of thought went into that. And, uh, and, you know, it really does sort of address the whole issue in a very systemic way, which is what we need to do. Um, you know, we have, um, we just have taken a band - aid approach in general to addressing what our really systemic problems in our society. So we have, uh, CCAP on the books. However, it's not serving the people that need to be served. You know, even if we were able to lift the freeze, uh, it's a block grant and there's just not enough money to fund all the eligible families. And as we've heard from many, many people, uh, there's a huge gap between that, that upper income, uh, level that makes you eligible for CCAP and

3:23:23actual affordability of childcare. I spent just a short period of time yesterday, you know, researching affordability levels and percentage of, of household income, um, that people dedicate to childcare in the United States relative to other countries. And we, you know, we are just way out of scale in expecting on a societal level for individual families to solve a problem that does not belong on the backs of individual families. There is ample, ample evidence. And any of you who have heard me over many years and I see Rowing and Nadu is online. She's heard me talk about this. I always walk around with my article by the Nobel Laurie in Economics James Heckman who talks about the value to the economy and society as a whole by investing in early childhood care and education. And many people spoke to that here already. That it pays dividends.

3:24:25And it's not just economic dividends, although those are many, you know, it's not just kids that arrive at school ready to learn. They have greater rates of family formation. They are more stable in the workforce. Their marriages are more stable. Fewer socioeconomic problems. It affects the welfare system, the criminal justice system. Brookings Institute studies. I'm not going to cite all of this. But the return on investment, uh, estimates are between four and 13 dollars in return for every dollar that's spent, um, and it shows up in educational attainment, employment, health, true and sea criminality. Um, so this, this is, this is something that society taxpayers need to fund for the betterment of all of us. And I believe that just deep, deep in my core. Um, what I also believe is that this should be funded by the federal government. There, you know, the United States of America should not be at the far left end of the spectrum on affordability and rates of coverage.

3:25:36Um, but the federal government is not doing it and has never done it. Um, it's not just a problem of this administration, although this administration has exacerbated the problem. The federal government has never done it. The state government has never done it. And they will not do it. And so I have to look in myself and say, am I going to let yet another cohort of zero to three? You know, go through those periods, those years without this help in Boulder County, because I think it's somebody else's problem to solve. And we've waited long enough. Um, it's time to do this. And we can do this and make the county that we want to make. So, um, so I'm ready to move this forward. You know, let's let the voters decide. Uh, I am not deaf to the affordable limited issues. And the problems of people trying to stay in this county on mixed incomes and, you know, for homeowners that are just barely hanging on and it's not just property tax, it's insurance. Uh, so I'm not deaf to that. And I know it doesn't help a person who's living on social security to say, Oh, but it's only 117 dollars a year. You know, these are, these are a budgets that are really at the breaking point. Um, and I, I'm sorry I

3:27:02don't have anything to offer. Um, these people, um, that is also a reflection of a broken society. Uh, but I guess what I need to look at is the future and future generations that, that in Boulder County will have a brighter future. So, um, so I'm very strongly in support of this. As Commissioner Stolzman referred to, uh, there are just some minor changes that, that I think we would like to at least consider here together before we, um, move this forward, um, they're not substantive. And Natalie, if we can put those on the screen in some sort of, yeah. So, um, so because we, we will end this hearing today with a resolution. I did read quite carefully. And, um, we can see those on page two. There should have been a comma after criminal justice system in paragraph E. It looks to me like in paragraph. I, um, the, the drafter is meant to say early childhood educators because it's contrasting early childhood educators with KA teachers, um, if you can keep scrolling. So there was, um, well, there was some repetitive language here.

3:28:37So this I was trying to just tighten it up. And, um, and not have the repetitive language. And, uh, so, so that's just a little bit of rearrangement. And then it also was, uh, referring to current assessment rights. Because the legislature keeps tinkering with this. And so, um, yeah, there's one right there. They keep tinkering with the assessment, right? So I don't want anybody to have the impression that there is something, you know, like fixed and final about assessment rates. I think that last thing was also just, um, there was some redundancy. And if you can keep scrolling, I think this was, uh, I'm sorry to say, are people work extremely hard, but they don't catch everything. And I think this may have been from another resolution that dealt with, with physical improvements like paving or something. And so I just thought purposes because purposes have been described elsewhere would be better than improvements. Once we say now therefore be it resolved, this is the legally binding language. And then this other is, that was duplicative, uh, paragraph 14 was duplicative of another paragraph, which I think was paragraph nine. And then, Oh, paragraph. Oh yeah. And then the number. You don't have paragraph eight, but it had a, um, it had, now, yeah, well, scroll back up. It said 2. 6 mils. And so

3:30:33I thought we ought to properly have 2. 579. Continuing. And I'm just saying this. So it's all clear on the record because, um, so then the next thing in pair was, um, Oh, this is then this is the ballot title. But it's only a portion of it. And, um, the proponents had requested that because this is allowed undertabor that we actually indicate how much it is on a home of a certain amount because as Commissioner Stolzman was explaining, you know, people don't understand assessment rates and Mill Levees and sometimes the middle levy credit and sometimes there isn't. And, you know, what does that actually mean? I've gotten email from people that think that the, that the mill is applied to the actual appraised value of their property, which it isn't. So I thought it was helpful to just have a benchmark that's actually in the title, uh, and have been told that that's allowable undertaper.

3:31:44And was that the end. Yes. Commissioner Lee. Okay. So that's it. And I think if we, we can have some discussion about whether there are any additional changes that need to be made just to make sure that it's absolutely tight, bright, white and tight, whatever. That's forgot what you're supposed to say. But, um, but these were the things that I caught as I was reading through it. Um, any, any concerns or questions about any of these changes? Yeah. Thank you. Um, just, just to respond to your comments previously to these proposed changes and that resolution language when you said that there's nothing that you could do about the concerns that property owners have brought forward in their emails and others, I do think an opportunity is to reduce them a lovely, at least to, to address those concerns as well. So I just wanted to respond back in that, um, to that comment. Specific to your changes on here. I just had, I'm looking at attorney and whoever, I don't know what the other attorneys might be on her. I just wanted to get some input on these changes because I don't know my understanding was that the county maybe made this resolution, but I don't know if the proponents did or and if the attorneys had any response on these proposed changes. And specifically

3:33:01on this page eight, I just wanted to make sure that this looks very different than some of our other tax measures. And so I just want to make sure. Hi, Commissioners Carrie Doyle for the County Attorney's Office. There's nothing legally problematic about the changes that are proposed. We do, um, I would like the flexibility to put that phrase in a parenthetical if I need to. Otherwise, no problem. Yeah. Maybe we can just as we move this just indicate, you know, subject to any. Further modifications that are legally necessary. That'd be great. Thank you. If it's okay for me to make a motion right now before I forget what you just said. Is move approval of resolution number 2026 - 048, including commissioner alleaves amendments and subject to any modifications that might be legally necessary to comply with. State and local law and federal law. And e - law. Second. Okay. So we have a motion and a second. I will call for any further discussion on the motion. I just want to be clear. I appreciate, um, I won't say discussion because I didn't get to have a discussion, but I appreciate the ability to just have, um, share our comments and our thoughts. I am a proponent of early childhood care and daycare and all the things. I'm very concerned about adverse childhood experiences

3:34:35that exist also in Boulder County. And so to hear from the doctor, I don't think it's here still, but that resonates a lot with what I talk about here at the dais. Um, and why I'm advocating for youth and all the different spaces and places that we can. So I'm, I'm a proponent. I'm just also very worried about the impacts and we heard it today as well. It's not just our mortgages when we're talking about property tax and those who are, those of us who are lucky enough to own a home in Boulder County, but it's the risk of losing home insurance also here in the state of Colorado. And we have folks here in Boulder County. We hear from an incorporative Boulder County. It's the HOA fees that are also on regulated and that are creating a lot of issues for people. There's just, there's just so many costs that are a great concern for me. So I was hopeful that we could talk about a reduction of the mills, but still move forward on the spirit of what is trying to be accomplished.

3:35:31And I recognize and heard the three different pieces that are really important to all of it. So, but I do want to just make sure that that's clear in case people were wondering like what's going on with, um, that particular commissioner. And so I'm, I'm, I'm struggling a little bit on, on, on where I want them afford on this, but I just want to at least share those comments. All right. So we do have a motion and a second. All those in favor signify by saying I opposed. So we have voted to put this on the ballot. Um, I will again thank those who are here. And the hearing is officially closed. So you're free to whoop and holler. All right.