A year before a $550 million bond package and tax increase made it onto Denver’s upcoming November ballot, a task force appointed by Mayor John Hickenlooper set out to stop a pattern of “catch-up” bond issuances.
The task force offered this solution: Increase property taxes to fund future maintenance. The proposal will appear on the Nov. 6 ballot as issue 1A.
Administration officials have said the proposal distinguishes Hickenlooper’s bond plan from previous others because it aims to help the city keep pace with maintenance needs, rather than having catch-up bond issuances every 10 years or so.
“Without that,” task force member Marilyn Miller told residents at a public meeting on the bond package, “this doesn’t work.”
But the mill-levy increase is one of two issues singled out by Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz.
She was the lone council vote against putting the mill levy on the ballot because, unlike the other eight pieces of the infrastructure package, the mill levy is a permanent tax increase.
“I am going to be supporting in this package what can be done without raising taxes,” Faatz said. “I did not run for office to raise taxes. I ran for office to spend money more wisely.”
Denver residents will vote on nine questions to fund infrastructure and maintenance projects around the city.
Issue 1A has its roots in a February 2005 report by the Mayor’s Infrastructure Task Force that said Denver underfunds capital maintenance by about $25 million each year.
“The result is,” the task force found, “in many cases, a significant deterioration in the safety, appearance and functionality of the city’s important infrastructure and facilities.”
Issue 1A seeks to close that funding gap.
“It is our attempt to move away from a model of wait-and-fix-it-later for more,” said Kelly Brough, Hickenlooper’s chief of staff. “It is a whole lot cheaper to pay for the maintenance as we go than it is to make up for it.”
If passed, the 2.5 mill levy increase would mean about $50 a year in additional property taxes each year for the average Denver home of $255,000.
Brough said Denver residents would still have the lowest property tax rate in the metro area if all nine questions pass.
“If it doesn’t pass, you roll up your sleeves and try and find another way,” she said. “But this is not smoke and mirrors – there are no games here. This is a real problem.”
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-954-1657 or gmerritt@denverpost.com.
