After 150 years without a town government, Niwot voters will decide whether to create one

For 150 years, Niwot residents have looked to Boulder County to govern their community. In November, they will vote on whether to create a town government of their own.

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The proposal has divided the community of about 4,300 northwest of Boulder over whether greater local control is worth the cost. The nonprofit Niwot Incorporation Committee, which brought the question to the ballot through a resident petition, says incorporation would give Niwot more say over land use and the minimum wage and let it raise taxes for neighborhood roads the county doesn’t prioritize.

Neighbors for Niwot, an opposition group, says small-town governments are often short on money and worries that a new Niwot government could raise taxes or invite unwelcome development to cover its costs. The group also worries that incorporation would change Niwot’s character.

The ballot includes three governance questions: whether Niwot should be incorporated, whether a home-rule charter commission should be formed and who should serve on the nine-member commission.

Voters will also decide five financial measures, including whether to authorize a 2.5% sales tax, a 4-mill property tax and $15 million in new debt for road maintenance and other transportation infrastructure. Proponents estimate the annual cost for an average Niwot household at $756.

If incorporation fails, no municipality is created. If voters approve incorporation and the charter commission, the elected commissioners would draft a home-rule charter for voters to consider in a later election. The proposed debt also depends on approval of the sales and use tax, which would be used to repay it.

The Niwot Incorporation Committee is asking voters to vote yes on every question.

“Change is coming either way,” said Nick Little, leader of the Niwot Incorporation Committee. “The question is, who decides? Do we as local Niwotians decide, or are we going to let Boulder County make decisions for us?”

Ari Adler, who leads Neighbors for Niwot, argues that the risks of incorporation outweigh the benefits.

“Incorporation is expensive, it’s permanent, and it leads to a whole host of unintended consequences,” he said. “We feel strongly that this is not a good path forward for Niwot.”

Who is behind the campaigns, and how much are they spending?

The pro-incorporation issue committee has raised about $8,300, mostly from a few large donors, many of them local business owners. Steve Lehan, founder of Au Pair International, has contributed almost half of the committee’s funding. 

The Niwot Incorporation Committee, a separate nonprofit organization run by Little, has received more than $115,000 in donations and loans from 42 residents, including several $10,000 contributions, according to the nonprofit’s report.

The money supporting incorporation has drawn scrutiny from opponents, including over the involvement of people connected to Niwot’s local newspaper. Bruce Warren, one of the nonprofit’s donors and volunteers, is also the president and editor of the Left Hand Valley Courier, which has covered the incorporation proposal. Reporter Mandy Walker serves on the Niwot Election Commission administering the incorporation vote. The newsroom says it has not taken an editorial position on incorporation.

Warren did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

The anti-incorporation issue committee has raised about $9,600 from numerous smaller donors.

Little said much of Niwot’s business community supports incorporation because business owners want more local control over the minimum wage.

Niwot business owners have argued that Boulder County’s minimum wage increases have made it harder for them to compete with nearby Longmont, where the minimum wage is $1.66 lower.

Some proponents of incorporation have also chafed at a new county limit on the size of homes in unincorporated parts of the county and want the power to set their own land-use codes. Opponents are concerned about losing county zoning measures, including historic zoning protections that affect downtown.

Supporters also say incorporation would give Niwot more say in plans for the CO 119 corridor and bikeway and in how a recent state housing law is implemented locally.

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Who pays for neighborhood road repairs?

One of the central arguments for incorporation is the condition of Niwot’s neighborhood roads.

Boulder County prioritizes core arterial and collector roads for major repairs and repaving. It has recently repaved many of the collector roads in Niwot, including Neva Road, Niwot Road and North 79th Street.

But a majority of the subdivision roads in unincorporated Boulder County are in poor condition, according to the county. The county does routine repairs, like filling potholes, on subdivision roads, but the residents who live along them are responsible for more extensive repairs or repaving.

Several attempts to raise money at the county level for subdivision road repairs have failed at the ballot box or in court.

The pro-incorporation group argues that creating a local government is the cheapest way to repave Niwot’s roads, because under incorporation, the tax burden would be shared by businesses and visitors through sales and other taxes.

Another way Niwot neighborhoods could pay for road repairs is through public improvement districts, or PIDs, which impose property taxes on individual neighborhoods to fund improvements. Niwot’s Burgundy Park neighborhood took this approach in 2017, raising property taxes by about 16.5 mills, or about $1,080 a year for a $1 million home. 

The Board of County Commissioners is currently offering to cover 30% of project costs, up to $750,000, for PIDs approved by residents, “as long as funding sources allow,” according to Boulder County Public Works spokesperson Andrew Barth. 

Little argues that this approach would be much more expensive for residents than the taxes proposed under incorporation. 

Opponents dispute the incorporation committee’s cost comparison. They say its projections underestimate what Niwot would spend to run a town government and maintain main roads, stoplights and bridges now maintained by the county, on top of repairing neighborhood roads.

By contrast, they argue, a public improvement district would raise money for road repairs without the costs of a new town government. They also say Niwot could seek state grants for transportation improvements.

Concerns about what comes next

Opponents remain skeptical about what leaving county governance would mean for Niwot.

On their website, opponents cite recent cases in which small town governments have made unpopular fiscal decisions, including Erie’s recent 4-3 decision to sell the town’s mineral rights. They also point to towns that have approved the construction of data centers. 

“Boulder County’s land-use rules currently restrict things like large data centers and heavy development,” the Neighbors for Niwot website reads, citing the county’s moratorium on data center construction in unincorporated Boulder County. “A new city council that’s hungry for revenue and writing its own zoning might roll out the welcome mat instead.” 

Little argues that the proposed budget does not anticipate new expansion or development and that an elected body would represent residents’ interests.

“It’s going to be the people of Niwot who are going to be in control, it’s their elective representatives,” he said. “The way you keep your town character is by putting the right people in leadership to do what your town wants.”

Adler argues that financial pressures could limit those choices.

“With small town municipalities, they often struggle to pay the bills, and it leaves them few options,” Adler said. “They either raise taxes — and with TABOR in Colorado, taxpayers could say no thanks. Then they’re left either annexing land or developing just to pay the bills.”

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