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City Council backs fire mitigation, emergency services measures

Combat year-round fire season
Monte Whaley
Monte Whaley
neighborhood near corner of Indiana St and Colton Rd (2)
Neighborhood at the corner of Indiana Street and Colton Road destroyed by the Dec. 30, 2021 Marshall fire Photo by Macie May

City Council Tuesday night unanimously endorsed two Boulder County ballot measures that will raise taxes for wildfire mitigation programs and emergency response efforts.

The measures the city council backed Tuesday night were County Issue 1A (Countywide Wildfire Mitigation Sales and Use Tax and Revenue Change); and

County Issue Issue 1B (Emergency Services Sales and Use Tax and Revenue Change).

Two other ballot issues will be on the November 8 ballot: 

  • County Issue 1C (Transportation Sales and Use Tax Extension and Revenue Change).
  • Proposed Boulder Library District — County Electors Petition Issue 6C.

Measures 1A and 1B, respectively, would establish a 0.1 % countrywide sales and use tax for fire mitigation efforts and to purchase more equipment for emergency responders in the county’s rural areas. The sales and use tax for emergency response would decline to 0.05% after five years.

The wildfire mitigation measure would fund countywide efforts to reduce fuels through forest and grassland management projects to protect against catastrophic wildfires, protect water supplies and create more resilient forests and grasslands, Jim Webster, the county’s Wildfire Partners Program Coordinator told the county commissioners in August . 

The measure would also help residents in the mountains and plains prepare for wildfires by making homes more fire resistant through community partnerships and financial assistance, he said.

Boulder County Commissioner Marta Loachamin told the city council that more funding for wildfire mitigation and equipment for emergency services is needed to combat a fire season that is no longer seasonal.

“As we have seen, fires are now year-round,” Loachamin said.

In August, the commissioners voted 3-0 to ask voters in November to extend the existing countywide transportation sales tax. The transportation sales tax was first passed in 2001 and extended in 2007. 

To date, the transportation sales tax revenue since 2001 is $94.7 million, Gloria Handyside, spokeswoman for the Boulder County Commissioners told the Leader in August. 

The estimated combined revenue generation (sales and use) for all three proposed ballot measures is $33M for 2023, Handyside said.