Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will release a revamped bond and tax-increase proposal for infrastructure today that cuts nearly $80 million from the most recent plan.
The plan scales back funding for a renovation of Boettcher Concert Hall and transportation projects and removes a $20 million project for homeless housing from the bond altogether.
The mayor plans to make up the difference on those projects with money generated separate from the bonds.
Also new in the mayor’s plan is a reconfiguration of the funding package.
A task force appointed by the mayor had recommended a property-tax increase and two separate bond packages that expired at different times. Hickenlooper’s new plan keeps the property- tax increase and combines the two bonds into a single, $550 million bond that expires in 20 years.
“These projects represent the right investment for our future as we work to build a better, more sustainable city,” Hickenlooper wrote in a memo to the City Council on Tuesday night. “We believe this proposal meets all the objectives in a fiscally prudent and simplified structure.”
For more than a year, the Infrastructure Priorities Task Forces has been working on a plan to update and maintain the city’s infrastructure. In May, the group released its proposal for $567 million in bond issues as well as a property-tax increase.
City Council members added additional projects that brought the total bond load to $630 million.
One day after vowing in his inaugural address to bring a proposal to voters in November, Hickenlooper finished a proposal that he said “respects the process and structure of the (task force) recommendation.”
The plan must be approved by the City Council before it can go on the ballot. But council President Michael Hancock, who worked with the mayor’s staff and Councilwoman Jeanne Robb on the changes, praised the plan as a compromise.
“I think there is something for everyone in this bond,” Hancock said. “What I think people will see is a greater use of the capacity of our bond and less of an increase in the tax rate.”
Under the mayor’s proposal, a resident with a home valued at $255,000 would pay an additional $12.41 a year for the bond increase. The same resident would pay an additional $49.25 a year for a property-tax increase to fund annual maintenance.
To make up funding he removed from the proposal, Hickenlooper said he will look elsewhere.
For instance, he plans to fund a $20 million homeless housing project using certificates of participation, allowing the city to use the project as collateral. In theory, the city would pay off debt for the housing with savings it generates in the Human Services budget.
The mayor’s administration will present the plan at a City Council committee this afternoon.
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
