Oral arguments could start on May 16 for a lawsuit that accuses the Boulder City Council of violating Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Amendment, according to court documents.

Earlier this month, the advocacy group Save South Boulder and three Boulder residents filed a lawsuit against the Boulder City Council, after members approved an ordinance allocating $66 million in bonds to fund the South Boulder Creek Food Mitigation Project. Save South Boulder representatives argue such a financial undertaking, which will be funded through a stormwater and flood management fee, falls under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and must be presented to voters.

State voters approved the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, Amendment in 1992. It limits the amount of tax revenue that government officials can keep and spend.

Boulder city staffers filed a motion for an expedited briefing and speedy hearing on the case because, per court documents, “(a)ccording to Boulder, the existence of the lawsuit hampers its ability to proceed with issuing the bonds and delay may increase the overall costs of the project.”

The City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to authorize the funds in a March 6 meeting. The ordinance said that the stormwater and management fee can be defined as an enterprise under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. An enterprise, as defined by the state, is essentially a government-owned business, and it receives revenue in return for the provision of a good or service.

According to a city website, the mitigation project is intended to limit the impact that future flooding has on the structures and people in the South Boulder Creek floodplain. Bond proceeds will pay for the land acquisition and construction “of flood mitigation infrastructure,” according to the city website, on a parcel of land called the CU South site, which is owned by the university.

Part of this project includes a 2,300-foot-long spillway, or a dam, that will direct detained water under U.S. 36 before returning to South Boulder Creek, according to prior reporting from the Camera.