Proposed Niwot Public Improvement District for roads and infrastructure

The Niwot Local Improvement District (LID), in conjunction with community organizations, is working to establish a Niwot Public Improvement District (PID). This District would be based on the Niwot Community Service Area (NCSA) map adopted by the County Commissioners in January 1995, and would provide funding for subdivision road repairs, infrastructure for the Master Plan, and ongoing infrastructure maintenance.

In 1995, Boulder County was faced with increasing budget demands, and looking for ways to cut expenses to avoid raising taxes throughout the county. One approach adopted by the county was to change the definition of road maintenance for unincorporated county subdivisions to exclude road rehabilitation and reconstruction, even though the county had accepted the road dedications when subdivision plats were approved.

The need for road rehabilitation and reconstruction in the future loomed large, but the county literally "kicked the can down the road" by not providing a means to pay for the work which would become necessary in the future. As a result, during the intervening years, no taxes have been collected to address road reconstruction.

In 2016, the Niwot Community Association (NCA) conducted a survey of its members on a proposal to fund subdivision road repairs, and found that a majority would support a tax to implement such a plan for the Niwot area. After the NCA filed a petition with Boulder County, the county convinced the NCA to withdraw its petition so that the county could propose a county-wide tax measure to fund road rehabilitation.

The county then attempted to address the subdivision roads issue with a vote on Measure 1A, which would fund a 15-year reconstruction project. This proposed mill levy increase was to raise an estimated $82M to pay for the reconstruction, repaving, overlay and chip seal, concrete gutter and drainage improvements, sidewalk rework, and related safety improvements for roads in incorporated portions of Boulder County and neighborhoods in unincorporated Boulder County. This measure was rejected by the voters, 45.91% to 54.09%. https://electionresults.bouldercounty.gov/ElectionResults2016G

Shortly after Measure 1A was defeated, in December 2016, the Colorado Supreme Court denied a request from hundreds of unincorporated Boulder County subdivision homeowners to consider their claim against the county over the county's refusal to rehabilitate and repave unincorporated residential subdivision roads, ruling that the matter was a political issue.

Since then, only a few subdivisions in the unincorporated county have formed a PID to address the road paving issue, most notably the Burgundy Park subdivision in Niwot, and more recently, the Homestead subdivision in Gunbarrel.

The proposed Niwot PID would consist of approximately 27 subdivisions within the NCSA, as shown in the accompanying map. The LID's goal is to mirror the efforts of the new Homestead PID, a subdivision located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Lookout Road and 71st Street.

Residents of the Gunbarrel Homestead subdivision petitioned Boulder County to establish a PID, a taxing entity that funds road repaving within the district, and voters approved the district in November 2024.

The Homestead PID sought a 23.6 mill levy to fund 70% of the initial construction costs using a zero-interest loan funded by Boulder County. The Homestead PID will repay the loan in eight years via its taxing authority, with the other 30% of construction costs coming from Boulder County's road maintenance fund. Initial work will begin within two years of the Homestead PID's formation. After the 70% loan is paid back to the county, the remaining funds from the tax will go toward funding future road resurfacing and maintenance, if needed.

The Niwot LID anticipates that the funds created by the Niwot PID will pay for improvements to Niwot subdivision roads, and also allow for funding infrastructure improvements in the Niwot community, some of which are included in the Niwot Master Plan.

Heidi Storz, a LID member, said, "The goal is to spread out the costs over the NCSA, which includes approximately 1500 households. This method may include the existing Burgundy Park and Brittany Place PIDs within the NCSA and help reduce their tax burdens."

Dave Lee, principal and architect with Fletemeyer & Lee Associates, said, "We have been reviewing all the public comments concerning the Niwot Master Plan we received from the recent community-wide survey. Those comments have jumped out because the Niwot community thinks the most important or positive improvement (of the Master Plan's ten projects) is the Second Avenue streetscape enhancement that connects the Second Avenue historic business district to Cottonwood Square Shopping Center. Creating a Niwot PID will create an additional funding mechanism to pay for those improvements and help us implement the construction of those sooner rather than later!"

The Niwot LID's next step is to hold meetings with local homeowners associations (HOA) in January, aimed at placing the initiative on the November 2025 ballot. Outreach will include finding champions in each subdivision to serve on a committee.

Storz said, "This is a great way to disseminate information versus a large community gathering, where oftentimes, individuals feel intimidated by the group size and end up not sharing their ideas and concerns."