Boulder Rejects a Downtown Tax District as Voters Prepare to Decide a $400 Million Bond and a Vacant Home Tax

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Last verified: September 25, 2026

What’s confirmed

The proposed Downtown Development Authority would have redirected future growth in downtown sales and property tax revenue, for up to 30 years, toward Pearl Street Mall improvements, public restrooms, event infrastructure and an expanded downtown ambassador program. Boulder Reporting Lab’s preview coverage put the projected capture at $3.5 million to $11.5 million in sales tax and roughly $3.2 million in property tax over the first six years, plus around $44 million in parking revenue mostly earmarked for maintenance. That same reporting noted a detail specific to Sundance’s arrival: because the festival is expected to boost downtown sales in January 2027, when the authority’s baseline year was set would determine whether that extra tax revenue flowed to the new authority or stayed with the city’s general fund.

When it came time to vote on August 6, city council split 4 to 4, with Mayor Aaron Brockett, Tara Winer, Matt Benjamin and Rob Kaplan in favor and Taishya Adams, Tina Marquis, Ryan Schuchard and Nicole Speer opposed. Because the council was down to eight members after Councilmember Mark Wallach’s resignation, a tie meant the measure did not advance to voters. Coverage from Boulder Reporting Lab and KUNC attributed the opposition to concerns about oversight of the authority’s leadership, questions about redirecting tax dollars to downtown property owners while city finances are strained, and the fact that the district’s own election would have been decided by an estimated 2,500 property owners and lessees rather than the broader city electorate. Councilmember Speer noted the proposal had drawn opposition from both Boulder Progressives and PLAN-Boulder County, groups that don’t often agree.

The same meeting sent two other measures to the November 3, 2026 ballot: a residential vacancy excise tax of $4,000 per year on homes occupied 183 days or fewer annually, projected to raise about $4 million from an estimated 500 to 1,000 vacant properties starting in 2028, and a $400 million recreation and safety bond, unanimously approved, that would cost roughly $400 a year per $1 million of residential property value. Per the City of Boulder’s official ballot measures page, voters will decide four measures this November: the bond (2K), a change to how the city calculates its debt limit (2M), the vacancy tax (2J), and firefighter collective bargaining rights (2L).

Why it matters

This site has already covered what Boulder is spending to land Sundance in our piece on the city’s incentive package, and how businesses navigate the festival’s permit calendar in our business deadlines guide. This story is the other side of that ledger: whether the extra tax revenue Sundance is expected to generate downtown gets captured by a dedicated authority or simply flows into the city’s existing budget. With the authority rejected, there is no separate downtown district in place for the festival’s debut, and any Sundance-era sales tax bump downtown is on track to go through the city’s normal channels rather than a new dedicated fund. Locals following how Boulder is paying for Sundance, and how it plans to spend what the festival brings in, may want to watch the November ballot results alongside the festival’s own news.

What we’re watching

We’re watching the November 3, 2026 election results for the vacancy tax and recreation bond, and for whether a revised downtown authority proposal resurfaces in a future election cycle. We will update this post if that happens.