March 30, 2023...

Since our July 2022 update, the transportation sales tax ballot issue passed, extending the sales tax in perpetuity at the same level of 0.1%. Subdivision paving is not included, but rather, the Commissioners asked that we work with them on a ballot funding proposal for 2023. The County workgroup that was proposed by the Commissioners more than six months ago has not transpired.

SPC co-founder Liz Marr spoke at the February 23 Boulder County Commissioners townhall meeting and we share her statement below:

I have lived in unincorporated Boulder County for half of the 40 years I’ve lived in the area. I am speaking on behalf of the Niwot Community Association, the Subdivision Paving Coalition and BoCoFIRM founder Chuck Wibby.

For over 25 years, there has been no funding mechanism for full maintenance of the 150 miles of paved roads in over 100 subdivisions in unincorporated Boulder County, which includes Hygiene Heights. That is because of a 1996 change to the Comprehensive Plan that shifted the responsibility to property owners, long after the subdivisions were already approved and developed by the county. Property owners were not consulted about the policy change and for years, it sat percolating until the roads degraded to the point that residents began to take notice. And for the past 12-15 years discussions with 8 different Commissioners have ensued, along with work groups, coalition building, failed ballot initiatives and lawsuits.

It’s critical that the Commissioners recognize the overarching political and economic background that has made that policy untenable not only historically, but even more so, now.

Many affected subdivisions were built around areas of business that were annexed into the City of Boulder, including the IBM property near Niwot and many commercial properties in Gunbarrel. Over time, both the City and the County have benefitted from the higher commercial property tax rate and sales tax associated with the retail entities that have come with commercial growth, but the choice to exclude the residential properties from city limits left the County with the responsibility of subdivisions. A significant benefit at the time of development, particularly around the IBM plant, was offering options for employees and their families to live close to their workplaces.

In parallel, growth concerns led to the County and Cities’ open space voter-approved initiatives. Today, these open spaces contribute greatly to our county’s quality of life, sustainability, and climate resilience. However, one cannot undo the past economic development decisions that have led to unincorporated subdivisions holding limited political clout, in comparison to city populations.

Built during the 1960s through 1980s, many unincorporated subdivisions have roads that have never been repaved. Had the County continued to fully maintain the roads, the cost could have been absorbed via general funds allocated to the annual transportation budget. Now, decades later, most of the roads have degraded to the point that they will need to be completely rebuilt. At a total cost of $100 million by the County’s own estimates, we have been told the County is not able to absorb such a cost from general funds.

The property owners in Boulder County’s unincorporated subdivisions do not have the political or financial capability to resolve the issue alone. If a tax were to be levied against only those affected homeowners, the average cost would be nearly $10,000 per property or nearly $700 annually over a 15-year period. Not only is that unfeasible politically, but it’s also unfair and would potentially force some property owners out of their homes.

Given the historical context and the current high cost to remediate the degraded roads, our position is simple: We support a county-wide funding solution for the rehabilitation of the paved subdivision roads in unincorporated Boulder County. We oppose any funding framework that would be solely the burden of the 10,600 affected residential property owners.

July 12th, 2022...
(Below is a copy of the email update sent to all SPC Members on 7/12/2022)

Greetings SPC Members,

We’re emailing to give you an update on the County’s opinion polling regarding potential 2022 ballot measures and status of related ballot measures. In recent weeks, the Subdivision Paving Coalition leadership has met three times with the County, most recently on July 7 with all three Commissioners.

We’ll be honest; the polling results present a conundrum for our subdivision paving efforts. And as you read the next few paragraphs, you will understand why.

The County conducts opinion polls to assess voter opinion on a number of issues as well as evaluate viability of potential ballot measures. Due to COVID-19, polling has not been conducted since 2019. This year’s opinion poll results are based on 604 telephone interviews conducted April 25-May 2. As with 2018 and 2019 polling, housing affordability was identified as the single most important issue for Boulder County. That was followed by a new issue of concern, wildfire mitigation. Next were homelessness and climate change. Concern about transportation (and related congestion) was much lower and decreased from 2018 and 2019 to 2022. When asked about the County’s overall tax burden, the percent responding that the taxes are “way too high” or “high but acceptable” is at a 20-year peak.

The County tested nine different ballot options, including four different transportation funding scenarios (three sales tax and one mill levy) as well as fire mitigation, emergency services, health services and affordable housing. There was a high level of support for enhanced wildfire mitigation either through a sales tax or mill levy.

The County retail transportation sales tax, which is a substantial funding mechanism, sunsets in 2024, therefore needs to be included on the 2022 ballot. The poll tested a straight extension at the current .1% rate as well as increased rates of .3% and .7% (which included subdivision roads). Of the three options, the extension fared the best and would likely pass, while neither of the increases showed enough support to place on this year’s ballot. A 1.38 County-wide mill property tax for roads and bridges that would address subdivision paving and funnel a portion back to Cities was the least popular of all nine ballot issues tested.

You can review the opinion poll results in detail here.

Based on the polling outcomes, the Commissioners plan to place a transportation sales tax extension (not increase) on the 2022 ballot. They do not support a transportation mill levy (addressing subdivision paving) against the transportation sales tax extension because the two measures could cannibalize votes. And based on the significantly lower level of support for the County-wide mill levy, it would be unlikely to pass against the sales tax extension. SPC expressed concern that the 1.38 mill rate tested was significantly higher than the 1.00 mill limit we recommended and 75% higher than the 0.785 mill that was on the 2016 ballot.

Recognizing the Commissioners will not support a 2022 ballot measure on subdivision paving, the SPC reluctantly accepted their position. However, we made it very clear that SPC is unlikely to continue down the path of cooperation if 1) subdivision paving funding is not addressed on the 2023 ballot and 2) the County does not provide active support in working with the Cities to help ensure its passage. While they are unable to give an absolute guarantee, the Commissioners have committed to working with SPC to develop a viable funding mechanism to place on the 2023 ballot. Based on the Commissioners current thinking, that funding may come by way of a subsequent retail transportation sales tax measure. On a positive note, the Commissioners seem to recognize that placing the financial burden solely on subdivision property owners is untenable and are instead focused on a County-wide funding solution, a position SPC has consistently advocated.

SPC leadership will meet with Boulder County Public Works director Jeff Maxwell at the end of July to delve into technical aspects of future County-wide funding mechanisms. We also plan to survey SPC members so watch for another email from us in the next few weeks. We have also requested a public meeting for subdivision property owners, which the County indicated could not be scheduled until the fall. 

Please feel free to forward this email to interested neighbors and encourage them to sign up for our emails, which can be done by sending an email to spcoalitionboco@gmail.com and including name, street address and subdivision name.

Sincerely,

Subdivision Paving Coalition (SPC)
Founding Members:
Peter King-Smith
Liz Marr

www.subdivisionpaving.org

March 10th, 2022...

Although it's been quite a while since we last sent an update, we continue to have regular contact with Boulder County Public Works. We met with Public Works Director Jeff Maxwell and County Engineer Mike Thomas in November. After that meeting, we were awaiting further word from the County before sending an update to you but then the Marshall Fire happened.

Due to the overwhelming and horrific nature of the Marshall Fire, we held off on communicating further with the County until very recently given the County has had some extraordinary challenges addressing infrastructure and FEMA funds as well as the important job of assisting homeowners in the long road to rebuilding the community. Last week, we had the opportunity to meet with Jeff Maxwell again to discuss the status of the 2022 ballot and the inclusion of funding for unincorporated subdivision paving. The good news is that subdivision paving is still on the table for the 2022 ballot.

This week, Jeff and other Public Works staff, as well as staff from the Planning and Permitting Department, are meeting with the Boulder County Commissioners to discuss the broader transportation measure and how subdivision paving funding will be included in the 2022 ballot. The County plans to conduct public polling about ballot measures in April. We will continue to stay in touch with Jeff and expect we will know a lot more about any potential ballot measures after the polling data are analyzed.

We will be back in touch as soon as we have clarification and can then start to work on an appropriate course of action with the County and with other SPC members, including how SPC members can provide constructive input and assist with advocacy. Please feel free to forward a link to this page to interested neighbors and encourage them to sign up for our emails, which can be done by sending an email to spcoalitionboco@gmail.com and including name, street address and subdivision name. 

July 23rd, 2021...

As a follow-up to our late May meeting with Commissioner Claire Levy and Public Works Director Jeff Maxwell,
the three commissioners convened a meeting last Thursday with Public Works and Planning staff to address unincorporated subdivision paving. 

We met with Jeff Maxwell afterward, and so are sharing here key points from our meeting:

All three commissioners are supportive of getting a resolution for subdivision roads. The commissioners have tasked staff with exploring all options for a county-wide funding solution as they are in agreement with Jeff's and our SPC perspective that a subdivision-only funding option is not viable at this point. Although not cast in stone,
this is good news.

The County is targeting the 2022 ballot for transportation (which is sooner than we expected) and wants to do what they can to ensure it passes in total, not have one measure pass and another measure fail. Thus subdivision paving is being considered for inclusion in a total transportation funding plan. The County intends to conduct public polling in the near future regarding general county-level transportation funding options.

Essentially, the staff’s task is to research and determine what mix of funding and strategies have the best chance of passing. The staff and commissioners will remain in contact with our SPC leadership, and we will continue to provide input on proposed funding solutions.

As always, we appreciate your continued support. Please feel free to share this website with interested neighbors and encourage them to sign up for our emails by sending an email to spcoalitionboco@gmail.com and including name, street address and subdivision name. 

June 4th, 2021...

On May 28th the Subdivision Paving Coalition leadership had a very productive virtual meeting with County Commissioner Claire Levy and Public Works Director Jeff Maxwell.

Commissioner Levy has reassured us that both she and Commissioner Marta Loachamin feel strongly that it is time to find a funding solution for the decaying subdivision roads. We did not hear about the position of Commissioner Matt Jones but in prior conversations he has also been quite supportive.

Commissioner Levy is very familiar with the history of Boulder County's unincorporated subdivision paving and said it's time to stop kicking the can down the road. She is directing staff to commit resources to determine how best to fit a funding proposal into future ballot issues, including potential inclusion in a retail sales tax extension for transportation and/or a county-wide mill levy specific to subdivision paving. It's possible that a hybrid solution will be offered. She indicated the County needs to conduct public polling at some point to assess voter attitudes to various ballot approaches.

Recognizing there are a lot of moving parts with federal and state monies, we should note that we are in the early stages with the County regarding what any future ballot options might be. Commissioner Levy reiterated that it is unrealistic to expect any of the state or federal monies to directly target subdivision paving, but rather funding will have to come at the County level. 

As you may know, the County retail sales tax for transportation doesn't sunset until 2024 and if extended that feels like a long way off, but at least we have a commitment that the County will work with our coalition rather than expecting the SPC and homeowners to go it alone. We do not know if it is realistic to expect to have a portion of proposed County transportation funding be used to kickstart subdivision paving funding on the 2022 ballot, but that is not off the table at the moment.

We appreciate your continued support with responding to calls to action and hope to be able to schedule some in person meetings in the not too distant future.

May 15th, 2021...

The SPC submitted a question (details here) regarding the new (Board of County Commissioners) BOCC's position on funding for subdivision roads at the Commissioners Town Hall on 5/13 as did many of you (thanks!). Commissioner Levy responded providing some information but much more is needed. We have requested a meeting with the BOCC for further clarification.

Not surprisingly Commissioner Levy repeated the BOCC public party line that we've heard all along over the years: "The comprehensive plan requires subdivisions to pay for their own roads reconstruction"

We hope this is, as in the past, their public stance but that the BOCC is still going to support us in developing a long-term solution. The SPC was referenced specifically and Commissioner Levy spoke about our close collaboration in a positive way so we trust this is a promising sign.

Our question also requested a meeting so we will follow up on that to establish their official position regarding working with the SPC and actively supporting our efforts to secure funding to finally resolve this issue.

You can see exactly what was said on this video replay of the Commissioners Town Hall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWV0jDPKs1g
(Fast forward to 47:23 for the subdivision roads discussion)

May 1st, 2021...

* Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the BOCC postponed any 2020 county ballot action. With the pandemic-related delay and two new commissioners being elected in 2020, the SPC has held off on substantive discussions with the County regarding any policy action for subdivision paving funding.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the BOCC had considered a master transportation and public housing funding for the 2020 ballot. The BOCC is now considering a County infrastructure measure for the 2022 ballot.

On several occasions late last year and more frequently this year, the SPC leadership in partnership with the Niwot Community Association (NCA) has met (virtually) with representatives of BoCo Public Works (PWD) and Transportation Planning. We have received and discussed updated costing for rehabilitation of all BoCo subdivision roads and an associated mill-levy.

We have yet to meet with the current BOCC, which includes two newly elected Commissioners, but are planning to do so in the near future. Leading up to the November 2020 election, county commissioner candidates responded in public forums to questions related to their positions on addressing funding for the rehabilitation of all BoCo subdivision roads. They were generally concerned, supportive and wanting to find a solution.

In April, Commissioners Marta Loachamin and Clare Levy presented at the NCA’s virtual annual meeting and stated that the county was working with the SPC to find a solution regarding funding for subdivision paving. 
A video of their presentation, including their response to the question about subdivision paving is available here.

The County continues to move forward with paving what it defines as community-use roads in subdivisions. Currently underway are portions of Lake Valley Estates. Past examples include portions of Pinebrook Hills and Heatherwood. Unfortunately, this piecemeal approach within subdivisions virtually eliminates the feasibility of neighborhood PIDs or privatization. The only financially feasible options are to be included in the county's transportation funding measure or to have a relatively small county-wide mill levy increase.

SPC leadership has also recently re-visited discussions with PWD and the BOCC re funding options:

Subdivision Paving funding being included in an upcoming overall County infrastructure measure
Subdivision Paving funding being included in a Transportation infrastructure measure 
Failing the above, the strategy for the SPC, BOCC and PWD to work together on a Ballot Initiative 

Additional background.

Transportation Planning - The Bigger Picture and how Subdivision Paving Fits

The BOCC has approved a Master Transportation Plan, much of which remains unfunded.

See it here: https://www.bouldercounty.org/transportation/plans-and-projects/transportation-master-plan/

The transportation plan funding gap is $2.2 billion. Of that $100 million is estimated for subdivision paving with $0 earmarked in anticipated funding. With about 10,000 individual properties in incorporated subdivisions, the annual mill-levy increase on a per-property basis for subdivision residents would average about $1,000, which is not manageable for many property owners. 

The County is likely to seek a sales tax measure for the 2022 ballot. It is SPC’s preference that funding to rehabilitate the significantly degraded pavement in subdivisions be included in this measure.

Discussions so far this year have led us to the unfortunate conclusion that much of the history from our past decade working closely with and under the direction of the BOCC and PWD is not familiar to our current BOCC.
We are therefore faced with a significant re-education period before meaningful progress can be made.