{"id":383,"date":"2026-06-10T06:03:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:03:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=383"},"modified":"2026-06-10T06:03:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T06:03:55","slug":"boulder-homeowners-could-be-charged-up-to-90000-each-for-a-street-project-many-are-fighting-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bouldermovingguide.com\/?p=383","title":{"rendered":"Boulder homeowners could be charged up to $90,000 each for a street project. Many are fighting back."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The residents of Sumac Avenue agree with the City of Boulder on one thing: Their street needs work. It hasn\u2019t been paved in decades and is riddled with potholes. When the city proposed repairs in 2019, many welcomed the prospect of a smoother road.<\/p>\n

Read more \ud83c\udf3d Before Boulder was a foodie town, this market changed everything<\/a><\/p>\n

That changed in 2025, when residents learned the city wanted them to help pay for the project \u2014 in many cases, tens of thousands of dollars. Resident John Kelly said his estimated assessment exceeded $100,000, though city projections now suggest the highest assessments could be closer to $90,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of my neighbors have been here since the 70s and 80s, and they\u2019re retired, and they\u2019re scared to death,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cWhen they got that notice, they were crying.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Resident Susanne Riis, who has lived on Sumac Avenue for 25 years, said she was told she would be required to contribute about $30,000 toward the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have $30,000. I\u2019d have to pull from my hard-earned savings to pay for it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt feels like stealing money from us to do a project that they should be paying for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody doesn\u2019t want it,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

City staff have proposed creating a Local Improvement District to help fund the $8.4 million project, which would include pavement reconstruction, improved drainage, a new 8- to 10-foot-wide sidewalk, pedestrian crossings and curbs. Under the proposal, the city would collect $1.8 million from the owners of 52 homes along Sumac Avenue.<\/p>\n

City spokesperson Aisha Ozaslan said that \u201cduring community engagement, the majority of participants supported the proposed project design and improvements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents counter that the feedback was collected before they learned they would be asked to help fund the project.<\/p>\n

Several residents also said they never supported the scale of the proposal, which they view as unnecessary and out of character with the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely would like our street paved. It\u2019s a mess,\u201d Riis said. \u201cBut at the same time, no one [said] we want extra trees or we want a 10-foot sidewalk\u201d on what she described as a more rural street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

City officials say the road has deteriorated beyond the point where simple repaving is feasible and requires a full reconstruction. Of the project\u2019s $8.4 million cost, about $4.6 million is tied directly to rebuilding Sumac Avenue, while the remainder would pay for drainage, utility, Broadway and engineering improvements funded by the city.<\/p>\n

Resident Adam Asnes said the project\u2019s price felt especially difficult to justify given the city\u2019s budget challenges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a little weird,\u201d he said. \u201cOne street is $8 million? Are you kidding me?\u201d<\/p>\n

The dispute now heads to city council, which must decide whether to create\u00a0the local improvement district. A planned vote was recently postponed while staff conduct additional analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A dispute rooted in decades-old agreements\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When the area around Sumac was annexed into the city in the 1980s and 1990s, property owners signed agreements committing to help pay for future street improvements. Some also agreed not to \u201coppose or remonstrate against\u201d the establishment of a Local Improvement District to fund them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As properties changed hands over the decades, those obligations transferred to new owners. Some residents were unaware of the agreements when they purchased their homes, according to Riis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents also argue the agreements are outdated.<\/p>\n

According to a November 2025 city report on the project, Boulder had considered improvements to Sumac since the early 2000s but never pursued them because of staffing, funding and economic constraints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When city staff revisited the issue in 2025, they initially sought individual agreements requiring property owners to cover 50% of transportation improvement costs. After several residents declined to sign, staff turned to a local improvement district instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Under Boulder city code, council may create local improvement districts to help fund public improvements that provide special benefits to nearby properties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Each property\u2019s proposed assessment was calculated using a weighted formula based on lot size and road frontage.<\/p>\n

A city consultant concluded that the project would provide $5.7 million in \u201cspecial benefit\u201d to adjacent properties through improvements such as drainage, safety, access and aesthetics. Under that analysis, property owners could be assessed up to $5.7 million, while the remaining costs would be attributed to the project\u2019s broader public benefit, Ozaslan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents dispute that analysis, arguing the cited benefits are no different from those provided by street projects elsewhere in Boulder. They also argue that Sumac Avenue serves as a connector road between Wonderland Lake and Crest View Elementary School, making it a public asset used by the broader community rather than a street that primarily benefits adjacent property owners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just redid all of 19th Street, really changed it radically \u2014\u00a0new sidewalks on both sides, new pavement, lower speed limit with speed bumps \u2014 and they didn\u2019t charge the residents of 19th Street,\u201d Asnes said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what taxes are for,\u201d Riis said. \u201cThose are city services available to everyone. It shouldn\u2019t be this special benefit to us, just because our property taxes are going to go up.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Mark Wallach said that while city staff could still change his mind, he remains skeptical that the project provides a meaningful private benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me it\u2019s a public road, it\u2019s going to be used by the public, and ought to be paid for, generally speaking, by public funds,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Concerns about a broader precedent\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Asnes said city planners told residents the Sumac proposal could serve as a model for future local improvement districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can do it here on Sumac, they can do it everywhere else they need to repave,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearby streets Tamarack Avenue and Upland Avenue were annexed under agreements similar to those governing Sumac.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ozaslan said local improvement districts can \u201cbe formed in any location where public improvements specially benefit specific properties in order to enhance the city\u2019s ability to provide public improvements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She did not directly address questions about whether other streets could face similar assessments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What happens next?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Last fall,Sumac residents created a working group and asked council to pause the project, direct staff to reengage with the neighborhood and evaluate lower-cost alternatives.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the group have met with Senior Transportation Planner John McFarlane, City Manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde and several councilmembers.<\/p>\n

A November 2025 report projected permitting and finalization of funding agreements would be completed by the third quarter of 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But after months of pushback, it\u2019s unclear when the proposal will go to council.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 7, Rivera-Vandermyde canceled a request for council to hold a special meeting in early June on the creation of a Sumac Avenue Local Improvement District.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStaff has determined we have some additional analysis to provide city council,\u201d she wrote in an email.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \ud83d\udce3 The first glimpse of Boulder\u2019s 2026 council race<\/a><\/p>\n

A new date for the discussion has not been announced.<\/p>\n

Division of costs, according to the city:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Residents say Boulder should fund repairs to Sumac Avenue through taxes, not homeowner assessments tied to decades-old agreements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-government"],"yoast_head":"\nBoulder homeowners could be charged up to $90,000 each for a street project. 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