Photo by McKenzie Lange/Aurora Sentinel
AURORA | The city will likely ask voters this November to approve a sales tax increase to fund $264 million in transportation, public safety and city facility capital improvement projects.
At a May 9 workshop, city council members moved forward a proposal to ask voters to approve three bond issues, totaling $264 million, and accompanying funding that amounts to a 0.325% sales tax increase, or about 3 cents on every $10 in purchases.
The bond issues would fund 65 projects across three areas, including transportation, public safety and city facilities, which includes parks, recreation centers and libraries. Some of the major projects include the replacement of the Peoria Street bridge, construction of a new fire station, library and recreation center, improvements to police and fire facilities and park renovations.
The projects were identified over a three-year process through the Build Up Aurora Infrastructure Task Force, which identified over $2 billion in infrastructure needs across the city. Through community engagement efforts and determining which projects are development ready, the task force narrowed the projects down to the ones included in the bonds.
Councilmember Curtis Gardner, who is a chairperson on the Build Up Aurora task force, said the proposed bond questions “meet a sweet spot” because they have strong polling, meet the city’s needs and the projects are within the city’s capacity to address.
Deputy City Manager Laura Perry said the total of all the infrastructure needs in the bond questions and identified by Build Up Aurora “exceed what the city can afford to do within its annual budget,” which is why the city is turning to voters for bond funding.
One bond question would ask for voter approval for a 0.13% sales tax increase, or 1.3 cents on every $10, to fund $107.4 million in transportation projects, such as the construction of Gun Club Road and transportation improvements for the Aurora Reservoir.
Another bond question proposes a 0.13% sales tax increase to fund nearly $105 million in facilities projects, like building a new library and recreation center in northeast Aurora and the renovation of the Aurora Center for Active Adults.
The third bond question would ask for a .06% sales tax increase, or 0.6 cents per $10, for $52 million of public safety improvements, including upgrades to several fire stations, police facilities and the 911 call center, as well as building a new fire station.
All of the proposed sales tax increases would sunset after 30 years, which is the life of the bond issues, unless voters approve extensions in the future. The city has not had a sales tax increase since 1993.
If all of the bond measures are approved, Aurora’s total sales tax rate would be 8.825% in Arapahoe County and 8.325% in Adams County, up from 8.5% and 8% respectively. The city’s sales tax rate would still be behind Broomfield, Castle Rock, Commerce City, Denver and Fort Collins if the bond questions pass.
Perry said the projects listed in the bond questions were chosen to prioritize ones with the greatest public benefit.
Public surveys show residents’ top concern is public safety, including crime and traffic safety, followed by improving transportation and parks and recreation. The surveys also found that residents want the city to focus on upgrading existing infrastructure, ensuring the benefits are citywide and improving accessibility and access to services.
Polling, done by Keating Research, on similar bond questions indicated broad voter support, with six different proposals receiving anywhere from 55% to 62% support of those polled. The strongest support was for bond questions funding public safety and transportation projects.
“The bottom line is Aurora voters strongly support these bond measures and we know that safety, traffic and bridge repairs are very important to voters,” Chris Keating, from Keating Research, told the council.
At the May 9 workshop, council members seemed to be unified in supporting the proposed bond questions.
Council members will discuss the proposed bond questions at its May 18 study session and vote on whether to put the questions on the ballot at the June 8 and June 22 meetings.
No doubt, the city’s in a financial pickle. But this Build Up Aurora initiative is a total scam. Its 100% dishonest to say that a tax rate increase is the only path forward– especially when Council has done NOTHING over the past decade to materially improve the aenemic level of retail and dining activity.
When were people surveyed on serious improvements to retail, dining and entertainment and drawing people TO Aurora for fun and to spend on food, drink and merch so that we might revitalize the tax base and avoid hiking the tax rate?
Before you surveyed, did you educate people on exactly how bad Aurora’s retail economy is relative to other Colorado cities– or the hole it puts in the city’s revenue budget? 14% below the per capita average is failing grade.
Did Council tell people its been ducking this vital economic issue for at least a decade?
Also note the Retail Strategy approved in January contains zero financial goals and no expections to improve sales tax collections. Read that again. This is not strategy. And the Venues study championed by CM Gardner several years ago seems to of just fizzled. Both are performative political theater.
Without action on a sincere retail/dining/entertainment strategy, City Council is leaving $45 million/year in additional tax receipts on the table. That’s where Aurora would be if our retail/dining economy climbed to the per capita average of Colorado cities.
City Council has done and is doing NOTHING to materially improve the volume of retail/dining activity and thus sales tax receipts. Remember this as you cast your ballot to raise the tax rate.
I hear your passion, what is it you recommend to increase revenue from retail and dining?
My proposal in a nutshell: A large, world-class Performing Arts Center and Entertainment District financed and operated under a formal Public Private Partnership agreement.
Finance the city’s share by Aurora withdrawing from the Denver Scientific and Cultural Facilities District and replacing it with a similar tax district with no change to the .1% facilities sales tax we’re already paying ($8 to 9 million per year).
Currently over 90% of the facility tax collected in Aurora is going elsewhere with Denver’s big 5 venues taking the first ~64% right off the top. Alternatively, Aurora could triple grants to the Fox and other SCFD grantees in Aurora and still dedicate 70% of the tax collected to construction and maintenance of the Performing Arts Center and Entertainment District.
Commercial partners would match or exceed the city’s investment and insulate the city from the financial risks. City keeps 100% of the sales tax generated.
So often, the city gives away the tax as an incentive (as with the Gaylord). Instead, city would commit a major portion of the facilities tax to construction and maintenance but caps the financial risk. Commercial partners bear that risk but also enjoy the profits. All sales tax generated goes to the city’s General Fund.
What’s key is selecting strong commercial partners (something Broomfield completely failed to do in attempting to run the Broomfield Event Center with city staff and no incentivized partners).
Irving, Texas (population 258K) and its CITY-OWNED Toyota Music Factory is the model I believe Aurora could improve upon. As a commercial partner LiveNation runs the main 8,000 seat pavillion. The Factory sits near the DFW Airport (drawing visitors who use DFW).
Below are links to the original grand opening and the more recent upgrade. Note the value in both boosting sales tax and attracting new major employers.
Music Factory Grand Opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi64Rhc7Zic
Upgrades and impact attracting new employers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaHDyRBbR9U
Those of us who have paid attention for the past several years knew that this was coming. The last City Council, led by Danielle Jurinsky (good riddance), eliminated the Occupational Tax in order to benefit their own businesses, which left the city with a $6 million budget shortfall. Unfortunately the Occupational Tax cannot be reinstated because of the way that it was eradicated. No one should blame the current City Council for any of this. They were handed this mess by several of their self-serving predecessors.
I agree no one should blame the recently elected CMs for what happened in the past. However ALL of their seasoned colleagues on both sides have been negligent in caring for the city’s #1 source of revenue. Instead they’ve kept their heads in the sand. Its their only point of agreement.
It remains to be seen whether the new Council is foolish enough to bring forward a ballot measure to raise the tax rate while it does NOTHING on retail, dining and entertainment.
Also Jurinsky is gone but its worth mentioning that she, Amy Wiles and Watson Gomes were all in favor exiting the Denver SCFD and redirect our facility tax dollars to revitalizing Aurora and its tax base. Crickets from all the other candidates and incumbants. Insead we get this tax rate increase proposal.
No new taxes until owners of all expired temporary car tags and regular car tags are forced to pay up for EVERY MONTH THEY ARE DELINQUENT!
There’s lots of revenue wasted in Aurora and surrounding areas.
No new taxes until owners of all expired temporary car tags and regular car tags are forced to pay up for EVERY MONTH THEY ARE DELINQUENT!
There’s lots of revenue wasted in Aurora and surrounding areas. Why isn’t this getting attention?
Would it be possible to reinstate the occupational privilege tax? This is frustrating for so many reasons. Residents are being asked to carry water for the previous Council’s missteps: tax breaks for the nicotine factory, early termination of the head tax. If those things were so good for the City, why are the residents being asked to pick up the bill for infrastructure. Gardner acted like bringing the nicotine factory to town would solve all sorts of problems. Too bad Jurinsky, Gardner and the others who voted for the tax cuts and tax breaks can’t be made to pay out of pocket for their mistakes.
Business owners despise any Occupational Privilege Tax both for bureaucratic and economic reasons. It has helped stunt business development in Aurora. Danielle did the city of Aurora a big favor for bringing about it’s demise, no matter what any commenter here says, easily offsetting the six million it brought in.
My idea to get over half that back is to eliminate the Cities, Civil Service Commission. The work they do can easily be incorporated into the police and fire departments at minimal cost. The socialists fight this idea because it gives more independence and less oversight to the police and fire departments.