In 2023 the voters of Boulder County approved the Affordable and Attainable Housing Tax (“AAHT”), also known as Ballot Question 1B, which promised to provide substantial funding for the creation of new affordable housing, both in the County and the cities of Boulder and Longmont. In 2024, City staff eagerly awaited the allocation of funding from this tax, on the not-unreasonable assumption that it would be done fairly, equitably and transparently. In fact, at a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Boulder Housing Partners as early as October 18, 2023, County Commissioner Claire Levy said the following: “I don’t think we are thinking of this as Boulder County’s pot of money to distribute as we see fit. This is community money; it’s coming from all of our communities. And we recognize that there are needs in all of our communities…”

So what could go wrong?

Well, as it turns out, just about everything. The allocations of the tax proceeds shortchange the cities and are patently unfair to both Boulder and Longmont. Looking at numbers is a fairly tedious endeavor, but try to stay awake; this is a subject of great importance:

First, the County deducted $500,000 off the top of what is estimated to be tax revenues of $16.7 million for administration. In this case, administration appears to consist of writing a few checks and monitoring that the funds are being used as promised. Boulder could handle that task without additional administrative expense or hiring new personnel; instead, these funds are going into the County’s coffers without explanation of the need or the manner in which they will be disbursed.

Second, the County deducted another $500,000 off the top for something called an “innovation fund.” This is an affordable housing program, not a high-tech start-up; what is the purpose of this fund and what is it supposed to achieve? These funds should be put back into the pool to be used to create affordable housing; we can fund an innovative program when we see it.

On top of this, there is an allocation of $835,000 for a fund balance reserve. It is certainly fair to ask, for which governmental entity is this reserve being maintained? Is it a reserve for all, or just for the County’s projects?

And, as they say in the late-night television ads, “But there’s more!” The County is allocating $5.2 million for supportive services, a category in which Boulder’s needs are tremendous. Boulder’s share of those funds: $0. That is not a typo. But don’t feel bad, Longmont’s share is also $0. The County is taking all of the supportive services funds for themselves. This means we can build Permanently Supportive Housing, but cannot use any portion of these revenues for the services that actually make it permanently supportive. This decision, by a County that has built all of 441 units of affordable housing between 2012 and 2023, a number that pales in comparison to the City of Boulder and its partners (especially Boulder Housing Partners), which built 1,616 units in that time (and has an additional 1,200 units currently under construction or in development by BHP), is, simply put, outrageous.

It boils down to this: Boulder is projected to receive 18.5% of the proceeds of this tax, and the County is retaining more than 64% of the proceeds for itself, despite the fact that the bulk of the affordable housing built in Boulder County is developed and built right here in Boulder. As the most aggressive and successful builder of affordable housing in the county, why are we receiving such a small percentage of the proceeds?

And, at the same time that the County is grabbing the proceeds of the AAHT, it has substantially cut funding ($4.4 million) for critical social service organizations, including All Roads, the Boulder homeless shelter, EFAA and Community Food Share, among others. All Roads has already begun implementing plans to curtail services and reduce beds. Other organizations are reducing the scope of their services accordingly. We are going into winter with our core social services providers hamstrung due to the County’s funding decisions. Anyone care to project the likely impact of these reductions?

None of this meets any reasonable standard of good governance, or fair and transparent policymaking. Instead of the parties sitting down and attempting to move forward on a joint, cooperative basis, the County has been acting by fiat: because this is a County tax, the expectations of the cities that supported the tax, voted for the tax and fund the tax through the economic activities of their citizens appear to be irrelevant to how the money is allocated and how it will be used to greatest effect. Had we known then what we know now, we might not have been nearly as supportive of this tax measure as the voting results indicated. Quite frankly, we would have been better off with a City of Boulder affordable housing tax, in which all of the proceeds would have been used to provide affordable housing and supportive services for our community.

It is not too late to fix this. But to do so requires the parties to sit down in good faith and deal with each other equitably and transparently. Where we stand today is the exact opposite of where we ought to be. The County needs to do better.

Mark Wallach and Matt Benjamin are members of the Boulder City Council writing in their individual capacities.