The first step for Aurora to become a city and county won’t go to voters this fall, and the idea appears to be on life support despite the city having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars studying the topic.
Lack of support by the Aurora City Council because of how much it would cost to consolidate into a city and county has pushed back a proposed ballot measure.
And the initiative — — might be done for the foreseeable future, if not longer. Aurora currently lies in three counties: Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas.
“The whole push for city and county quietly died,” said Aurora City Councilman Bob LeGare. “I think it’s dead for another five to 10 years.”
Aurora City Councilwoman Sally Moun ier was even harsher on the future of Aurora becoming a city and county. She questions why the city is even considering it given that there has been no public sentiment to do it. Mounier said future attempts should be shot down as well.
“Not another dime should be spent on a study,” Mounier said. “If this gets traction and gets on the ballot in 2016, I will work doubly hard to see it is defeated in the city. This is not the way to go.”
Back when Hogan was a City Council member, he pushed for Aurora to go to a city-and-county government, similar to Denver and, more recently, Broomfield in 2001.
Even if Aurora voters were to approve becoming a city and county at some point, it would still need the endorsement of the Colorado legislature to move it to a statewide vote.
Hogan has said that such a move would allow the city to control its destiny and give it more flexibility. Hogan was unavailable for comment, but in a previous interview, he said there was still plenty of time because the earliest it could go to a statewide vote would be 2021.
“I don’t see either Denver or Broomfield asking to go back to city-only status,” Hogan said in December, “so I’d like Aurora to take advantage of the same benefits they get.”
Aurora City Councilwoman Barb Cleland favors the move and wants more dialogue on the issue before it fades away.
“I think it would be advantageous to the city of Aurora, but I would like to listen to all of the council and have the discussion,” she said.
reviewing the topic.
In the study that had several phases, one looked at a “worst cost” scenario, which found that Aurora would have to spend $325 million over 20 years to build everything needed to convert to a county. Another phase with a detailed budget analysis with frugality in mind found a $10 million annual savings in a city-county scenario.
Mounier said her biggest concern on the city-county issue is that residents aren’t clamoring for it.
“For me, what was more important was that nobody is asking for this,” Mounier said. “The public is very happy how things are right now.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175, cillescas@denverpost.com or twitter.com/cillescasdp
