Photo by Gabriel Christus/Aurora Sentinel
AURORA | City council unanimously approved three bond measure questions for the November ballot, asking voters for a sales tax increase to fund $264 million in transportation, public safety and city facility capital improvement projects.
At the Monday meeting, lawmakers moved forward ballot proposals that would amount to a 0.325% sales tax increase, or three cents for every $10 in purchase.
The proposals 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.
A companion resolution passed Monday expresses the council’s support for the bond questions and says the projects “will improve safety, relieve congestion, and benefit economic growth” in the city.
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.
Deputy City Manager Laura Perry said the projects listed in the bond questions were chosen to prioritize those with the greatest public benefit.
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.
Perry previously told the council that 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.
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.
Council will vote June 22 to finalize putting the questions on the ballot.
This is willful economic sodomy against every resident of Aurora.
No doubt, the city’s in a financial pickle. But this Build Up Aurora initiative is a total scam. Its dishonest to say that increasing the tax rate is the only path forward–- especially when Council has done NOTHING over the past decade to materially boost retail, dining and entertainment in Aurora.
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?
How many times did the CABC recommend strategic action on entertainment venues and the retail tax base?
Also note that CM Bergan’s Retail Strategy 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– in other words WASTE.
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. Remember this as you cast your ballot to raise the tax rate.
Want to fix this? Start by telling your CM to get Aurora out of the Denver SCFD and replace it with a city equivalent. Then tell them you want an retail/dining economy fueled by entertainment drawing people TO Aurora to have fun and spend.
No! Learn to budget better! We already pay enough taxes!